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

FAR FROM THE TUCKSHOP QUEUE

us kids numbed & agog

who unzipped their coats 
to catch the blow & sail

of parkside autumn wind

are accidentally now adults

in a rush of penumbra

& the jumping blur of it

far from the tuckshop queue

UNFILED 2022 FIELD REPORTAGE 3

the dove sways
with its weight

on the topmost curve
of the conifers branch

& the lily twice dead
is blooming today

~

you !  

flower !

you could have been anything

&

obvious & complete 

&

heavy headed in the wind swing

& 

on a bed of hard cold clay

you nod & nod & nod

like an old old man

at another VE day

UNDER THE BENZO TREE

a calm 

that glows

& 

soft morning glee

nerve jags
ice nights

&
thoughts too free

lie as fruit

wind fallen

under the benzo tree

ABOUT A CLASSIC POSE

well i dont
but want to

salute the smokers
lighting up

backs bent
cupped hands

heads down
outside b&m

& that first billow
steam train size

of chugged fumes
eddy tugged

spirals wraith like
on the grey-white wind

A HOLIDAY FRAG POP

 

black mountainside
tequila on the bends

picture postcard valley
portmeirion in the wind

bad b&b weirdness
escaped with friends

THEREFORE I CAN

the creosote
& the petrol

the varnish

& tarmacadam

the neighbours skunk

on the weekday wind

& the mucking-out-the-stables earth-funk

of
the
animal
self

i smell 

yes

i smell

therefore i can 

CHALK & CHARCOAL

thick green roots 

sutured
to the red brown brick

theres zen 

in the weeding
in the cleanse

geese honk
in the chalk & charcoal
smudge of sky

black dogs
tow their people
in the uncertain wind

OBSOLESCENCE FURY

its wednesday
or thursday
or friday
or whatever

& tho acid blemished 

in the threadbare patches

with pink shapes of sun
morning is a folded stack
of over-washed towels
gone no colour at all

& up in the tv skies
bent wires tremble
with obsolescence fury
in the wifi wind

& the sentinel shingles

& the bitten pointing

who have seen it all

OVER THE MORNING BED

the mantle of time
hangs heavy
over the morning bed

everyday is unprecedented

yet the same

& the wind picks up outside
but doesnt care

its ancient language

rattling the letterbox

& 

whistling in the masonry

 

SCARED ENOUGH PT3

they got us
scared enough

to flap plastic flags
in the destitution winds

at the yellow glare
of appropriation gold

under rain & grey
& a war plane display

for yet again

another king

THE T SHIRT CHRONICLES VOL 2

his t shirt said

are the clouds lower
or is just me ?

he was 6' 6" & on a hill

but
i think
that was
coincidentally

~

'defcon ?' he asked

his face to the light
& arse to the wind

~

'its all tagnuts in the breeze'

i told him
totting up the rubicons

'just roadkill winnits
in the hatchback grill'

SANDCASTLE DREAMS

sandcastle dreams
lose their edges
in
the
life wind & tide

wet bog now

of sewage taint moats

just like that - nature teaches no

SO WHAT REDUX

no one walks into an alley 

like this alley

not here 
not tonight

not in this part of town

sky forbids stars

traffic is hushed

well lit here but so what ?

rot spreads

~

painted words on cement wall

harsh & illiterate

faded & true

but so what ?

mutants & sheep

& under my boots ? 

the busted plastic corners

of a busted music cassette

~

magnetic tape 
giddy

sleek

brown

un-spools into the shape of wind

that takes me back 
oh yes 

but so what ?

theyre coming back too

~

got a length of pipe 

might be lead

like in cluedo
who knows ?

its all i need

metal gets it done

smoke butt after butt

perfect moreish poison

wait

just drag it out

like we all do

~

yesterdays papers
panic flapping & trapped 
caught between the wind & a hard place

obits make the front page everyday

& i feel like 
we say goodbye

to the 20th C day by bastard day

but so what ?

thin sliced meat

~

throw my butt like i hate it

edge my boots 
into 
the 
dirty white light

feels like a movie

& vice versa

but so what ?

its all spam

in the meat world

photo Reaching from the Dagenham Archive

DECLARATION

 

i 

am

a 

culdesac tangent

a spur off

the

replacing circle

awake in the dark

ok ?

& listening to the winds

from visitalbuquerque.org

SUPERMARKET AS MUSEUM, OBSERVATIONS

doing our tick-tock time
in the universal double-click mine

beige blims & the backpack herd
are moon pulled & wind blown
ad compelled & credit shelled

before gift shop cost shock
& 
canteen disappointment


~


i am in the car park 
window cracked
waiting on rain & relief
eyes on lookout
for the cigarette police
& 
the meat world medicine man



~



coffee meet carbs
i say

i am criminally under-glitzed 
in the semantic last days

fiztrovias a memory
red castles a dream
midnight missing me 

they put suicide nets now
round the factory waists

you need a clearer sign ?

& tho our ferdinand
is likely legion  
& remains unclear
he must be in the firmware
bombs in the spam

from lovemoney.com

ALIVE ALIVE

rec ground
in
big weather

we held our coats open
& caught the wind
& sailed with it

& all the trees 
were shaking elemental

& i felt 
alive alive

13 ? 14 ?

spectrums
&
unattainable
sportswear 

c&a ski coats

&

the 
bloody custody
lie of school

from shelflife.co.za

POEMS FOR ALIENS, A PARTIAL GUIDE TO THE EARTH Nos 4 & 5

4. THE CLOUDS

like sheep
when sheep
hide their legs
and head

but
moving still
as 
if
blown on a wind



5. THE RAIN

like the shower*
but bigger

and outdoors
to
keep
the
animals** clean

pic from baarmychris.wordpress.com

* entry not yet available
** see entry No 8

THE THOUGHT OF A CLOUD ACROSS THE SUN

theres two states-

the ok oblivion bubble

chat
you know
tv

youre on the case
and everything
is in its box

a comfortable surrender
where everything
matches up
just enough

to sit still and look at the lawn

or-

existential
planet dying
hyper awareness
anxiety jag

curious cackling angles flushed out
and
  nothing 
    is nothing 
      is nothing...

and between-

a cotton thread wriggling
like
happenstance
in
the
wind

the thought of a cloud
across the sun

from lookingtothesky.com

TWO GARDEN POPS

GARDEN POP THE 1ST

the birds clacked and clicked

almost in remonstration
it seemed to me

and there was no wind

no wind at all

like all the kisses
had
gone
away



GARDEN POP THE 2ND

in my 
subjective opinion
life is a very
subjective experience

i announce 
unoriginally and uselessly

to
the
gardens
busy
dumb
fauna and flora

that struggles 
uncomplaining
unquestioning
every day
from
the
borders
heavy
bad clay

and it blooms

from marriedtothesea.com