MERCURY SPILL

the
pain
pretended
at a dull ache
but we both knew
it was fire
&
the shape
of a mercury spill

~

& the shirt
on the hanger
on the line
like a sail
slides away
on the wind

THE GREYSCALE LEAVES, FRAG POPS

under the same sky
where warplanes fly
i walk the pale dawn

agog & grounded

kicking the greyscale leaves

~

its a terrible wonderful world
& we are safe we think
on the western islands
in our bells of mist

~

now the fire in my knees

is extinguished

by wading thru

the soup

in the hall

a trail like smudged pencil

i imagine as my wake

THE NAVY WAY

 

the eye level fire
of the winter dawn

will make relief art

of the ripped tarmac 

on the deteriorating road

i walk down thinking

of 

earth & light

sun & wings

& all the different versions

of the navy way

PLACE IS HEAVY NONSENSE

trembling at death
frying pan to fire ?

agog at the universe
the size of the thing ! 

& afraid of tomorrow
that regular unknown

~

this place is heavy nonsense

run by lightweights & lunatics

their teeth marks clear

on the seaside piers 

& the dogs of circumstance

congregate to salivate 

in 

the 

truncated precinct

nangs & candy plastic

on 

the 

betting slip ground 

THE BORN INDEMNITY

theres no fire in the lead
& no dance in the pencil

the music must be wrong

& the meds must be faulty

but its just another day

shoulder 

to 

the 

blackbriar treadstone

look what they make you give . . . 

you get the headaches too ?

photo - Headache in Motion from the Dagenham Archive

IN THE GRILL OF A RUSTY CAMPER / SOLID LAST WORDS

it was almost a deathbed confession

i had always wanted to hear one

& he had always wanted to give one

but there was no bed

its was blacktop
going red

& the confession
was all shock & nonsense

he laughed when i told him

laughed blood & bubbles

~

can you smell that ? 

he asked me
its my sadness burning

i gave him a nod

i gave him a smile

his yamaha was on fire

in the grill of a rusty camper

it was that we could smell

& my singed-to-nothing arm hair

~

solid last words achieved !

i said

high five ?

we did a low one 

sirens licking the firmament  

photo - Camper from the Dagenham Archive

THE LONG GAME

the long game

wears you d

           o

            w

             n

takes your inside fire-god out

all the short deaths 

            

             s

             t

             a

             n

by the night d

                                     

overstretch your leadbelly s          g

                             p      n

                               r  i

~

&

in these weather-watch days

of

the

long games uptight sphinct

its 

dawn that brings relief

whod have fucking thought ?

photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

FEBRUARY HAIKUS

vonnegut & goodis

paperback spines busted

night fire spits outdoors  


~


the small gods 

burn small leaves

gentle lakes
dirt beach


~


we react as water

in a winter like stone

pocahontas pikachu & me

THOUGHTS THAT LOOM BEFORE SLEEP 2

thoughts that loom before sleep
like unflushed floaters

That 
    Time 
        When . . .

~

boss wanted
a five minute chat
at five minutes
to clock out

cliche oppression

but i had to go buy a kitchen

~

burnt out dirt bike
on the cement apron
that sloped off
into the brown lap thames

we used to light fires
at night with beers

all flooded now
for the new port

how many more shits
will i have to do ?

from finaceapprise.com

FUTURE NEWS

the worlds last tobacco smoker died today.  

148 year old Phelony Spentlove, heiress to the Solar-Sketchers fortune, died due to complications in a surgically assisted birth of her fifth baby panda.

the panda is said to be doing well.

the worlds tobacco reserves were bought up wholesale by Phelony some 60 years ago at the height of the soil crisis.  

illegal in 99% of the worlds accessible landmass, tobacco smoking is still tolerated in Himalaya Atoll, where Ms Spentlove kept a penthouse.

Phelony shot to fame at the age of 100 as the first human to successfully incubate and deliver a live infant mammal of a different species, in this case a marmot named Bathtime.

she is survived by Bathtime, her five pandas and her husband-in-law Kenneth Glasshouses, 24.

dirge-hop conductor Kenneth, know for his prosthetic beaver tails, released his fifteenth billboard hit cast, 'My Arse Be Damming' early last month and was touring in the Netherlands Archipelago when the news broke.

he is currently unavailable for comment.

the board member for Benson & Hedges has indicated he will attend any services.

in other news the equator is still on fire.  

officials are still divided on what to call the phenomenon, despite clear agreement of the polled population for Firey McFireyface.

although we here at WBC believe The Burning Ring Of Fire to be an obvious choice.   

the fire is approaching its fifth anniversary and unverified sightings of phoenix's have increased tenfold.

reporting from Northern Australia our science correspondence Bethanyny Parkingjoy had this to say, 'Migrating geese on fire do not a phoenix make.' 

this up before the hair-weather and ad-sport - EU Sheriff Grandy Botanic has indicated concern over the continued silence from the UKs Quarantine Moguls, specifically with regard to trade quotas of Blu-Tack and the Royalty Range of merchandise.

indeed, there is a continued silence on all issues from the UK and the BRIC Corp, collective manufacturers of the Royalty Range, are keen for a robodrone HALO recon mission as soon as international disagreement can be circumvented.

now the hair-weather with Danbury Fillingboat . . .  
  

from pinterest

MOANOLOGY 2

i got too many computers.  
dont know HOW i got so many computers.
i been GIVING them away.

try telling that to a ten year old me as he watched in horror and awe at S***** P**** kicking his vic20 to death on the school yard concrete.  
that was 198? - deep in teacher strikes and the schools on fire ! grey smoke damaged text books to learn about crop rotation and the War of Some Roses for the rest of our school sentence.

you HAVE to go too.  
dont you ?  
illegal not too.  
but after ?  
not allowed in AT ALL.  
i'd love to go sit at those crummy desks.  
walk those halls.  
remembering.  
and feeling relief its all over.

i did once.  
after the pub.  
we hoped a fence.  
walked round the buildings.  
tried a window.  
unlocked.  
we climbed in.  
sat in our old seats as best we could remember them.  
had a nose up the corridor.  
them left and went to smoke weed on the hockey pitch.

silent alarm wasnt there ?

see blue lights flashing off concrete walls.  
torches swinging round the blocks.  
we went off the hockey pitch to the hedgerows next to the farmland. crouched down.  
watching.  
SO pleased we'd left. 
and not sauntered deeper in.

cant go back.

anyway.  
computers.  
i use them but still i get a cramp up my back stairs that i have to WRITE out with pencils and paper.

stationary.  
it even smells good.

and the best place to keep books is the bathroom.  
did you know that ?  
stops them drying out and the glue going dry and yellow and wrong like all my old Bond paperbacks.

from www.thebookbond.com

1980s SCHOOL WAS

COLD ELECTRO

the electro from Soho and Basildon

is

cold as a Chiltern cave

and

speaks

to

my alienation

much more

than

the pop stars

poncing about

like

pompadour peacocks

on Top Of The Pops

on wednesday

after

The Muppet Show

from www.festivalsforall.com

I WAS GOOSE

at

school

everyones seen Top Gun

so

everyones an Iceman or a Maverick

but

because

i 

am in a low pressure flat spin
and

i

watch

1950s allegorical westerns

on

BBC2 instead

apparently

that

makes me Goose

not

Gary Cooper

from www.squadronposters.com

SPAMMING TEFALS

everyone is slapping everyone else

on

the

forehead

then

shouting SPAM or TEFAL

or 

punching legs and arms

with

the

middle knuckle sticking out

then

shouting DEAD LEG or DEAD ARM

and

we

all

call each other FASCISTS

tho

no one

knows

what it means

from youtube.com

FRIGGING IN THE RIGGING

untouchable big kids

make

cudgels

in

woodwork

banging nails thru balsa wood

to

hit smaller kids with

all

the

way

home

reciting Beastie Boys lyrics

in their faces

like gospel

bruises and wounds

lied away

round the supper table

from thebyronicman.com

TRIO

everyone is obsessed

with

WHO COULD HAVE WHO

in a playground ruck

that

never

happens

we all work out odds like junior bookies

and everyone is obsessed

with

WHO GOT OFF WITH WHO

and

tho

no one

tells the truth

if

someone gets three fingers in

they

are allowed to sing

the

song

from

the Trio choc bar ad

from youtube.com

JIMMY HILL

when the school was set on fire

and

the library burned down

and

everything was stinking and brown

the

police came up to my art class

because

someone fingered my name

and

tho

i was drawing a man with his face on fire

it

wasn’t me who did it

it was a cocky arsehole

with a Jimmy Hill chin

who did it

he used to make supply teachers cry

during

the

union strikes

now

he

is

gone

from davesgreatadventures.com

ARE YOU CAS ?

and

all the in-kids

wear clothes

with tiny animals

over the left tit

and 

exotic Italian names

and

always

ask

poorer kids

ARE YOU CASUAL ? 

ARE YOU ?  

ARE YOU CAS ?

what do you say when everyone is CAS ?

with

Nike this

and

Fila that

Puma Top Winners

get you by at a distance

but

they’re

not 

Ivan Lendls

from  80scasualclassics.co.uk

BLUE PETERS CULTURAL IMPACT

Joey was the insult

i heard

all day everywhere

in all my schools

till

we

had

this one assembly

and

they said THREE OUT OF EVERY TEN OF YOU WILL DIE FROM AIDS

and

after

that

Homo

was

the insult

i heard

all day everywhere

in all my schools

 from colly.com

OLD MOVIES

i watch old movies
for
Connerys eyebrows
for
the
impossible
sixties
concave bellies 
- breath out Ursula !

- fetch my shoes 
says Connery 
in 
matching pale blue
to
John Kitzmuller
in
bad fitting red 
- a symbol of his death
by
fire

and
then
hes
never
mentioned
again

from fledglingmixologista