PALE SCRAPINGS OF WINTER

sportswear round here

its like its issued by postcode

adidas & umbro

nike for caps & hightops

at least it looks like

superdry has moved on

~

well my 'vintage' tshirts
soak up 

the fever sweat of effort
in the 

thin wedge of morning uk 

& its all about 

elasticated belts now
for the coming
workwear jamboree

~

& the cloud banks again
form a low smudge of crud

the pale scrapings of winter

from gin angels highstreet nails

SKY POP No 118

the endless & uncracked cloud

over me

the window

& home

is a grey lid
an un-popped seal

keeping the spring boxfresh

in januarys 

infinite
cul de sac 

of the soul

SICK DUCKS NICHE CAVITIES

i got my sick ducks
in a semblance row

& i forced-march them
thru the niche cavities
of government administration

or what passes for it
in these hijacked days

i realise now
i was grating myself
for an overlords brunch

& in the kitchen
the tap drips 

like a clock
into the strategy sponge

JUNCTION THOUGHTS ON THE A176

traffic signals
appropriate & ruin
beautiful green

they turn it
cold / lurid / dumb

& GO it says
go where ?

~

i enjoy more
the mandated timeout
of fire engine red
&
the tension & prerogative
of ambiguous ambers
soft nod

AS A LEARNING RESOURCE

how he spoke 

was like the words
were behind him

like a motorway truck

laying a line 

of traffic cones

this was prose 

in the print queue 

& no torpedo polemic

& it dovetailed

into the subject - 
an old war diary

its urgency logged long ago

on the boats & beachheads

& in the elephant grass  

& scanned now

for download

as a learning resource

SCENE

weep into
your cold
dishwater

theres rain up the kitchen window

so the postman
wont see

~

& all the difficult forms

& the liars on the phone

lay their traps of madness

sunshine & love

cant see

IN FEB 1993

selected AFT agents
were scheduled
to go get the happy meals in
later in the day

& others stuffed
their cargo pockets
with candy

they were aiming
for a family friendly vibe

in feb 1993

ESSENTIAL BALLAST

thats what
the meat clock does

slices us
like salami

& leaves us out

in the indoor air

plated like

moon phases

essential ballast
at the hospital exec buffet

fodder for brave cleaners

& the rats by the bins

TRYING TO TAMP THE MADNESS DOWN

at night
dreamy
but not sleeping
i feel like 

i am living 

in someone elses memory

i mean that how i phrased it
thats as close as i could get

it feels different now 

even opposite now

as the grey dawn creeps in

showing the scratches on the sky

~

& inside that nights

strange peaceful exploration 

i wrote on an envelopes flap -

i am in the photographs yes

like some kind of 

understated advocate

trying to tamp

the madness down

MY THERAPIST DISAGREES

if ignorance is bliss
then my assumption
that
the
gormless grinning masses
know nothing
of their land & plight
is correct

my therapist disagrees
but i seen him
in his quarter-zip m&s knitwear

out there

with the al fresco tossers
smiling at their frappuccinos
in the streetside city exhaust

just another 

poundshop dalai lama

throwing code words

at the encroaching dark

  

DESPERATELY IN NEED OF A STRONGER PLAN IN A DESPERATE LAND

the killer awoke before dawn

he put his turncoat on

he took two three four faces 

  from the human gallery

& he walked on 

  high fiving

down the lobbyist hall