SEGMENTARIES

 

he smelt of tobacco

the wood in his garage

& the summer rust of old sheds

~

bad actors lowkey preen

money buffered

from the effluent surge

~


the love scaffold
& medicine tunnel

both do jauntily
wave aloft the carrots

PART THREE OF A FUNERAL TRILOGY

AFTER

and 
after
it
was
kind of beautiful
to
breath air again
after
the
held
breath
and
production line dignity
in
the
any-denomination-or-not parlour

and 
it
was
kind of beautiful
to 
see 
grandad as smoke
rising
in
a
surprise snowfall

it
didnt
settle
tho

like we had to




OTHER GRANDFATHER

and
as
stiff english lips
lost their starch
and
started
their
flapping

my
other grandfather

big as a tobacco bear

uninvited
and
unexpected

lumbered
over
from
the
carpark

it felt like a storm
that wouldnt break

and he asked me
for the first 
and last time

if i was ok

pic from compassionatefunerals.co.uk

ODD BAGGAGE, A QUINTOPLOP ( PLAYDOH / PLASTIC ZEN )

the pasts strange weight
is
odd
baggage

and as if its playdoh
we 
rebuild 
its 
  pummeled 
    fingerprint 
      kaleidoscope
into 
  rough 
    rushed 
      story shapes
of
  magic proof 
  & 
  emergency confirmation

~

the pasts strange weight
is
odd
baggage

important moments - 
    love & death 
    modern epiphanies 
        &
    any 
      plastic zen 
    we 
      half achieved

is packed carefully in the carry-on

the tar and blades that cant be touched
go
in
the
deep cold hold

until the loss of cabin pressure
when
we
fall / crash / oh no
into
an
inevitable 
spread wreckage of everything

~

the pasts strange weight
is
odd
baggage

it stinks of childhood

the living room carpet before saturday tea

the new shoes that bite and coloured pencils

the first days of school / that formative confusion
before
you
have
to
live

before the adult stink 
of 
tobacco / mints / old slippers

tarnished metal brooches
&
dense toilet funk

becomes your own

~

the pasts strange weight
is
odd
baggage

roll
it
out
to show around the room
when
hearts
are
in
the
hearth

proud of it - depending
              on
              the company

tailor it with caveats if youre not

its a pick and mix jelly
of
sugar
rush
and
headaches

~

the pasts strange weight
is
odd
baggage

it sits on your face at night

a suffocating memory salad
heavy 
with 
stale 
crutons

or garden grown tomatos
that are
sweet-fresh
wet-crisp
and
unbearably
light

from www.123rf.com