EGGSHELL CHILDREN

 

i saved a snail

i saw struggling

on the hot cement 

&

wished
it
was
all the eggshell children
of

the

dangerous

world

but what can a poor boy do

but listen to a rock n roll band ?

CAGE & BONE POPS

what do
the treetops care

if our cement can look elegant as bone

when 
the light
is right


~


the cage is 5g

led & hd 

we are lounge wear canaries

urged out 
into 
the 
shuttered high street coal mine

after the porn bomb zoom

from bloomberg.com

ARMOUR MOON, DEMOB REDUX

i always wore armour

under a boozers moon

as heavy

as its

forged past felt

& i called out

for

more fuel more fuel more fuel

~

hell

saw

me

then

vain-glorious in the piss-alley

&

came for my ego in legion

now i am

naked lighter demobbed half-undone

just one more struggle-pup

counting scars & stars

another scratch & sniff sinner

pretending hes won

under a losers moon

satan-lite & cherub thin

unfallen like rehab

sitting on the cement steps

of

our

seaside mongrel nation

from spectator.co.uk

DAWN QUESTIONS

dawns 
groundhog day 
ground zero
ambiguously greets

the red berry bush
its xmas cherries
its blips of sin 

in baby blues 
in fat dove greys
& 
striped 
jailbar 
black

antimatter bars band 
the cracked cement

~

it
asks
me
one thousand
offensive
questions

like a charity mugger
crazy on good intentions
& good methedrine

i tick NA
&
return to sender

in big red
crayon blood

~

well dawn
you knackered my mind
with your 
relentless
regular
routine

its a knackered 
steel wool ball now
all crammed & gummed

& 
it 
feels 
like magrittes apple
when 
the 
dolls come home

from musicdirect.com

TWO WATER POPS

WATER POP THE 1ST

i decide 
to have 
a good day

the abyss on my heels

does it matter
if the sun shines ?

~

i
am
an
absorbing eye

no snap judgement
no noticeable self
a fish out of water

down-low red alert beeps
silent coded epiphany seeps

before breakfast pills
fill in the space
above my shoes

~

it matters if the sun shines-

it keeps 
the abyss 
in the cistern

subdued by blue scented jelly



WATER POP THE 2ND

steel hulls force waves
to power out
like influence
and decree

diagonal ridges on the run
in
a
riled river 
of oil and ink

racing for the masts
of the sunken
bomb-ship
carcass

~

tanker of fonts
shed its load
out in the estuarys
great grey wedge

shoes off
at dusk
i count the moons in the surf

collect metaphors
bobbing against
storm wall cement 

under the failed outreach
of
all
the
ruined
wharves
sunken sign-off similes

ss richard montgomery from amusingplanet.com

SOFT EPISODE

HAIKU TWO OF

OUTSIDE


outside of it all

hedges and air and cement
                      and 

on
a
spur
of
ledge



DEJA VU


rolling deja vu

wind whips peaks on the river

family 
blanket

from pinterest

FIND ME A MANTRA 2/3

what to write
when your mind is set
like
front
drive
cement
punched
and
ribbed
with
the
streetside 
shorthand
of the
starlike
shapes 
of bmx kids
blunt hands
telling
one old
one line
graffiti
story
of a date
one day
in
1985
?

~

then theres this bird
in the bush
out the front

its pink flowers
fell out last week

well he sings minimalism chirps
in
pretty good time
with
iggy pops american valhalla

its like he practiced all night
to
debut
it
for me
today

and
i
feel
weak 
with gratitude 
and sickness mist

~

well theres no tickboxes 
on govmnt forms 
for 
my
current
hydraulic 
leaks . . . is there for yours ?

and the bird 
off he goes now

to
find
what
he
needs
for
the
day

from land.allears.net

POOL HALL SUNDAYS

sunday afternoon innit
a hungover nowhere
mind in the biscuit tin

drive down southend pool hall
sky grey as carpark cement

conversations a heavy cloud
that wont rain will it

dust floats in pool halls green gloom
there is no time
down backstairs a nightclub waits for dark 
( or a darkclub
  waits for night )

soft drinks and cigarettes innit
i am in a reformed bubble
feel like spam dont i

last nights dried onto my jeans
last nights memories are grainy 
theyre a bad fit

( i remember - 
  childhood beach days 
  kodachrome colours
  wet tiles on toilet floor
  abrasive sand in short socks
  that sharp band of stones before the surf
  a fish and chip restaurant after 
  near a wall falling down ) 

hit the balls with the stick
tie crisp bags into bows
dont ever win do i

later fish and chips takeout
whisky and beer
sit in 
tv on innit
the words rain
its all softer now
dusk allows a vibe dont it
getting fucked up early doors

tomorrow is monday you see
and we have to pretend dont we
to give the week a chance

from yell.com

FRIDGE ALWAYS HUMS

houses heating noises ARE autumn
  click-clicking and tickling
  thru
  old pipes again

and the fridge ALWAYS hums its benevolence
  and 
  smug necessity
    behind
    the everything forever

and workmens drills from over the back fence
  pierce me like knitting needles 
      their hard steel pounding
      thru
      startled cement

and the fridge ALWAYS hums
  blank face happy to wait
    he
    is
    the
    stillest thing
    that ever was alive

and the radio plays a commercial classical station
    cos
    thats ALL the radio will play

and the postman posts WHATEVER
  thru the letter slot
    but 
    when i go to collect this WHATEVER

    i forget 
    
    forget in the hallway

    forget me and forget purpose

      brain 
      fart 
      SUPREME

instead i am reading Al Purdy on the toilet 
    where i can hear
    the fridge humming ALWAYS
    chilling 
    infinitum  

 from aheadinthesky.bandcamp.com

FUCKTOWN WALKABOUT

1

the surface cement 
on estate side roads
is
worn
and
eaten
into 
inaccurate maps of Asia

bungalow driveway concrete
is
rippled
like 
beach
sand 
when the grand switch
of
tide has gone

2 

the hatchbacks
lined up / waiting / airbrushed in the sun
look
like 
a GTA publicity still
and
the supermarket is neat enough
colourful enough
clean
and
symmetrical enough
to
be
a
pop-art wet dream

from cafepress.com

OUTDOOR HOSPITAL TOILET

one thistle
grey like carbon
or
sun bleached rubber
grows
ignored
from
a
cement crack
in
the
mens 
bog
doorway

 

 from wildlife-photography.uk.com

NOTES ON A BUS STOP MORNING

council mowed 
bus-stop shop parade verges
down to
stubble / loose thatch / missed corners

sounds -
quiet rumbles in place
air tastes-
fresh / sharp / a lemon on lips
chilled empty
from
silver night patrol / warmed by day torch

smells of school mornings
smells of almost happiness

i'd
take
out 
crusts for the birds before breakfast 
careful on cement path -
trapped pebble texture art to me

i'd
imagine
shark fins 
cutting
thru 
the sunken lawn

from saveourseas.com

CLINIC RECEPTION

the womans face is somehow unset
like
poured cement

she
sits
behind a desk
splashed with personal flair
thats
a
window
to
her home

as is accepted convention
i say my name and time

and
wonder
how
i
seem
to
her

from www.dreamstime

GRAYS OR WICKFORD

yellow mercedes cab rolls left out of 
budapest 
airport

yes 
there is a shell garage and a burger king
forecourts of smashed cracked concrete
and
a
cement
graffiti
ruin
in a clot of thin peeled trees

yes
budapest looks like
grays
or
wickford

from the right angle
EVERYWHERE
can
look
like
grays
or wickford