DESCRIBING TREES

now they axiom
& skedaddle
in their brittle winter debris
bark so dark its noir

& theres something of 

the pop-up book about them
their shapes - almost absences
cut out from the fence & shed & air

quietly mad & still & muted 
renfermé arbre
like painted by a french engineer
with a gall bladder for an eye

LAODED & IMPLAUSIBLE

we swallowed
the
pills
he
took
from
a
strangers purse

& when dawn came

it flashed me

like a subway perv 

& i found myself  

loaded & implausible

on the rubber slabs & bark chips

of a stark playground scene

cackling at the primary colours

of all the swings & slides

& at the browns 

the browns

of the logs

of the climbing frame wood

OFFCUT POSEY No 357

in impromptu affirmation
on the patchwork lawn
of straw & sod
& the guts of ruptured plums

i announce -

i believe in dirt
  & its weeds & leaves
    & the fingerprint bark 

      of the trees

& then i salute
an airmans salute
for the concrete cairns i built
over the graves in the clay

GLIMPSE ATLAS

pause in old nature
& direct your antenna
to the history-myth
of the ancient bark & mushroom web

& you may glimpse atlas

waiting on a union rep
who never makes calls
outside the celestial ball

atlas  

the original solitary worker
is sick 

with megalophobia & sciatica

stuck in 

a health & safety nightmare
forever 

unrelieved & under pressure

this despite his perfect attendance

& a record of exemplary compliance

INTO PLAYGROUND LEGEND

his big-boat trainers
& market traders leather coat
dwarfed his premature body
& shrunken walnut head

& when he swore he swore
in a vicious spitting bark
that escalated & enhanced
the words to defcon 1

we talked his swearing up
into playground legend
but it hinted at an anger
sourced where
no one asked

THO MY MUG IS BROKEN

i look at the tree bark
wanting to see tree bark . . .

tho my mug is broken

my zen is still plastic 

is earworms & bad static discharge

is running dirty

   on western 

   body meds

~

i am looking at the tree bark

waiting to see the tree bark

in a muggy garden morning

vapour hanging still

DELIRIUM TAPAS VOL6

the empty lands
or so they very very seem

blunted tile
blind ceramic

the awful plumbing wires

the turf bark & meat

empty
empty 

lands


~


theres reflections to fill it
to paint time & change it

if we update & defrag 

between loving blinks

& the past
that cosy ghoul
is gone in truth

but for in our drawn puddle glow

MARGARINE SUBSTITUTE AND NOBLE DELUSION

1. MARGARINE 


they
carved
their
names
in 
lime green margarine substitute

hands
too
smart-phone-weak

to
work
trees
bark

or the fenced off
unfracked stone




2. SHOVEL DAYS


cant grasp this knot
cant undo it
this clusterfuck bundle
of fuckery 
and lemon lies

i get my shovel
and i grasp my shovel
and rest its rusted tip
on the soil
too sick to dig

~

i stand there
like a tree stands there
times accident
and design

a noble nylon delusion
barefoot
and
surreal

on the crust of our earth - our lawn

smelling the end days
and the end days

smell like rust 
and 

standing water

from pinterest.com

CAFE MADRIGAL 3 - VALIDATION RUSH

and if this place
doesnt feel real

it may be cos its not

like the singer said -

'i am on the moon
 but more so'

~

and i listen
and i try to follow

what
the
people
say

what 
these
mutants 
bark

spayed sanctuary un-wolves
too blinkered 
to see the moon

~

but its all said so quick
all some open sluice rush
( filters long time binned )

just to get it said it seems
( tick that box )
and a need to hear agreement

essential morning validation
over bacon
in the breakfast cafe

~

it
clears
their
day

( i am supposing )

to fish for more 
building resentment

they can escalate

with 
  unconscious 
    silent 
      internal 
        repetition
  unconscious
    silent
      internal
        repetition

during the tv night

ready to blast again
at
the
next
days
yes-man breakfast

from tripadviser.co.uk

HAIKU X TWO

ILLNESS


rainfall darkens bark

puddle mirrors 
                winter fog

dutch
elm
disease




BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS


dawn is night mourning

we're heroes
            in the come down 

  then

  like
  salmon

  up 

from deborahsilver.com

SEASON POPS

1.

smells like spring inside

tv talking to itself

sofa 
& 
blanket


2.

springs solvent abuse

after winters cooked bark

flying
birds
of
time

PAIR OF POPS

      GARDEN POP

   i am drawn to the trees
 to the  quiet riot  out there

  barks rough edges  leaves smooth sweep
 theres a calmness to the tied earth

   an empty that needs no filling

    and my manmade fabrics
   feel loud
          and a mistake 
     in this beige ribbon 
        this fenced eden

from unsplash.com

      PLANNING AHEAD

 old couple  in a chilly costa
    huddle shoulder to shoulder

  theyre doing a crossword together
    their coffee steams
   their mugs touch

     will  that be us ?
 that will  be us

     if we have money then
  and  britain is not  ashes

from whitbread.co.uk

WORLD PANTOMIME

its rushed and its loose
its primary school pantomime
out
there

all the seats are too small
for a start

the backdrop is botched
in lurid poster paint

extras cry with nerves
understudies resign in crisis

teachers weep for the profession 
       in
       the
     cold draft 
       from 
under padlocked fire doors

any car crash scene
is applauded

orphan parents peeling love
in the smart phone glow 

from set-painting.com

LAST SUMMER TRIO

1.

birds bleep 
update alerts

sounds like that anyway
to
my
zoned-off
half-mind
on-the-nod
stretched 
out
on
the
patio
recliner
eyes shut and everything is blue


2.

uncooked oven fry

a single yellow chip
who tumbled
into accidental segregation

speaks
more
than
words
from the 
dusk light 
kitchen floor


3.

grateful for the garden

tucked pocket of english green

mad sprouts
and
knowing bark
is
fairy-tale impossible and mountain dignified
under
wi-fi 
skies

from smartrestaurants.co.uk