POSSIBLE REPOEM

i must have expressed before

in the spill of pub table ash

corralled by spent matches

maybe

or 

on a paperbacks flyleaves 

left in a green field

i thought was a cold steel rail

how i cant tell 

zen from madness 

or 

denial from a medical high

& how the rub & nub & oomph of it

is if it really matters

but i am sure of this -

i still find it poem

to difficult an end well

PLASTIC TWIST

candle wax on the squares

like contour maps of lands 

&
cigarette ash is clumping 

in the crowns of the kings & queens

&

minibeasts hike the warped board

as per their night time routine

& 

we are dissecting the human world

its bomb fetish & dangerous solipsism 

& we get high

& mad on wine
& play chess
or kinda

garden chairs & a bar stool

corned beef & beans
plastic twist in the padlock loop

PUT LITTLE TRUST IN TOMORROW

whoever said
seize the day
must have been high

it comes at you like a ramrod
like a haymaker of light
like a newspaper taxi ramraid
thru a pawn shop window

youd need hands
like andre the giant
or a glove
like thanos

not my mere mortal mitts

of meds & meat & mistakes

WINTER FRAGPOPS

decembers tagnuts

vie for place

in januarys

bereft gusset

~

now i remember

a late afternoon

high & itching

in the summer nettles

marlboro lights good

for hayfever throats

 

WALKING ROUND BEECHCOMBE

chocka rentaskips
on stubby driveways
&
a loosened kerbstones
miniature rockfall
&
the leaves are golden shadows
spread under the naked trees
&
the lights on distant cranes
only white flares in the mist
&
a single bin is a dumb sentinel
at the edge
of the stretch
of wet field

~

i imagine a smudged murmuration
the wavy shape of a question mark

over the bowling green
i used to hop the fence to

to lay there
high on the best grass

U S E D

 

used to be sharp

used to be a yes

used to be accelerated 

used to be there

used to know

used to be high immaculate

used to be

used to

used

u  

   s

         e

               d

photo by mango-tango monkey-pyjamas

FREE THEN I SUPPOSE

we

lay

in 

the corn lake
under the sun king
horizon a memory
waiting on the dark

~

we

went

down 

the farmer lanes

& the train spurs
to the corner pubs

felt like Stand By Me on drugs


~

& high & young

& haystack scratched
every blink 

became a 

matrix glitch

a festival-eye 

insomnia re-render


~

& cold glasses
& muddy boots
&
the pool table naked under stars

free as we could be 

for then

i suppose 

photo by Georgi Kyurpanov on Unsplash

MOVIE POPS & A BOOK POP

DEATH AND THE PENGUIN

penguin at the graveside
hired
tired
paid
to wake them
on their way

dont ask
youre working youre alive
dont ask
youre writing youll survive

penguin in the graveyard
his work is not hard
fish fed and under stars

dont ask
youre working youll thrive
if you dont know
wont have to hide

penguin plays his part
stood still in the rain
falls ill
in pain
needs a transplant
mourners acquire a childs heart

but you looked in the bottom drawer
found out
safe no more
and now must wangle
a plane
to antartica

from goodreads.com

UNFORGIVEN POPS


1.

film
on
broadcast
tv

saw it 
on release 
1992

high & awed
a western

get in
i remember thinking

get in


2.

i remember
the bits we liked

& like them again

i remember
the bits we laughed at
afterwards
in a hatchback
knee deep
in fast food kipple

with friends

i dont see

anymore



3.

hes big
hes broken
hes bent over

hes sick
in the rain
in a strange town

he sees a ghost - hendershot

but he aint like that anymore


5.

he dreams -

the 
angel of death
has 
snake eyes

but
he aint like that 

anymore ?

from theredlist.com

BEDROOM LANDS 4

RIZLA

same smell 
of MFI MDF

same stolen
brown laminate 
canteen trays

but
a 
different 

rainbow of rizla



CIGARETTES

with six
types of weed

i would cry
accidentally on speed

its 
more damn cigarettes
i need




ADIDAS

all
the
reformed monsters
got 
the
same
denim
on

subpop shirts

competing rubber-toe adidas
ripcurl
on 
coiled 
cable 
carpet



CABLES

snake atrophy

twist like art
to
vhs and crt

and back-of-a-lorry
monitor audio cones

plastic rivers
thru 
the 
kipple crumbs and carcinogens
of 
one-room 
living




SHOE RULES

smell-
different washing machine protocol

different shoe rules
differently observed

same mellow smoke billow
hugs same artex

same hot rocks
puncture different pillow

same empties
ashtary sentries
on the floor



HIGH

and
my
face was weird
in
the 
watermark mirrors
of
different bathrooms
different light

wasted and drained

pale and bombastic

high

pic from india.com

BEFORE 10 AM / MEXICAN DUSK

BEFORE 10 AM

so i feel 
kind of awful

but still 
i want to stick it
to
the
Man

so i sign 
all the petitions
of highest & noble human intent

with
chrome
autofill

and i act 
appropriately sad 
at the bad news tv

diligently enjoying
my fresh coffee beans

and i am probably against ALL borders
and 
FOR
the
ending of fight club

and the song they put there

but
so
soon
it
seems
like
someones downloading
all of google earth

into
my
soft
nut

and i will seek out the bed again
hide in the cotton womb again

calmed by the everyday
rag & bone man bell
and hatchback hum
coming 
in
the
open window

and
there i pretend to be offgrid & sustainable

pretend to be a tree

sticking it to the Man
with an imagined dream
of a tree rebellion

before 10 AM

from wallpapersafari.com

MEXICAN DUSK

the mexican dusk
is
an
orange peel & nightmare blue 
pollution stripe

is hells rainbow

and the soldiers 
are the black outlines 
of machines

less than human
and more than

and they blend utterly with the shadow

in the grey areas
of
elected officials

and bodies are hung
from the graffiti overpass

mutilated & headless & naked
to imply massive guilt

so
one and a half 
billion of us

can
get
high

from youtube

EFTOWN WELCOMES CAREFUL DRIVERS

at the edge of town

night

pubs shut

theres a sign standing there
like an elephant

or
death

would stand there 

it tells me where i am
like 
i 
am 
the only man in the world

i spend a long time

l 
  a 
    u 
      g 
        h 
          i 
            n 
              g
  

i
was
very

        h
      g
    i
  h

NATURE RESERVE INCIDENT

on a bench hewn from log
my hangover is slid sideways
when
i
find
a
half-joint in a deep pocket
Silver Fish i called them - stiff and dry
its
end
a
crumbling black crater

scene is 
nature reserve on reclaimed marsh
boardwalks / plaques
the Thames a touch away

i
light
it
and
smoke
it
and
then 
i 
am 
pointing my camera at unremarkable birds
  clicking and clicking 
    fuzzy photos of smudged brown feathers
      again and again

sooooooo much
i
make
myself
laugh and laugh and laugh - clicking photo fool !
suddenly 
high
loosened
and
undone

 from rspb.org