What the Heart Keeps

We ran and ran hoping to find somewhere it hadn't happened yet – a meditation on grief, childhood, and the unbearable weight of loss.

It eases all your troubles Forgives all the lies Welcomes all the sinners Stands by your side Brightens every shadow Fuels the morning sun Feeds the lost and hungry Lifts up the…

A cold front coming Grey skies My dead-eyed Straw-filled head Empty of pleasure Lost treasure Was never found In my dead pool The wickedness Of detachment The enormity of loss So…

Having curly hair In the sixties, Before Jimi Hendrix came over From America to set fire To his guitar and play Sunshine of Your Love Over Lulu’s end-of-show song On Saturday…

I would hate it, The confinement Of a cruise. Wrapped up in a blanket On a promenade deck Watching the horizon As ageing lotharios Dinosaurs And nere-do-wells pass by Stuck in a…

When there were shipyards Old cities built On manufacturing Flat caps were a symbol Of brotherhood They were doffed To toffs Flung into the air When your team scored A winner at…

Boarding house There is a vacancy It lies behind the eyes Which seem to stare into space Over the top of the glass The head tilted back The mouth wide Almost as if the top half Of…

What would you have me say? Happiness is an illusion Love is more than passion Life no more than love? We tore a…

Spain beat Sweden by two goals to one. As the Cuckoo Throws out another egg The Lion eats his young, Banishes its rivals After a fight, Even his own son, And is promiscuous. The…

I can’t live Without feeling I’ve missed out on something. A secret Nobody has bothered To share, It might make a difference It might not. I’m such a wuss When it comes to…

What if sadness was proof of a life lived – not a disease, but a human trait and a last vestige of hope?

It might be privilege A product of a life Without jeopardy Unless we’re stupid And go out of our way To seek danger We have time to Be prosaic Millions eke out a life Scratching…

Eyes half closed For fear, the truth would enter. The sun as high as a kite At full stretch A solstice in midsummer. We leaned Mutually exclusive In balance Holding the world…

A meditation on daily walks, shared moments, and the quiet intimacy of understanding someone before they speak.

Roker beach at midnight The moon, In a tangle Chasing clouds We were so young Hot blood Steaming Playing one-touch football In the dark Full of froth and testosterone Unsullied…

I miss you, Kora. Reflective dysmorphia You fuss and primp Believing is never enough The satisfaction Never quite…

There’s much to be said For living Nearly as much as can be Said for dying When all is done All the fun Of life Is in its passing Not in its ending Although it will Eventually…

There’s much to be said For living Nearly as much as can be Said for dying When all is done All the fun Of life Is in its passing Not in its ending Although it will Eventually…

When lights go down and moths hide in corners waiting for a spark – a meditation on darkness, endurance, and the elusive nature of clarity.

Perhaps more exists Than I know Or can see Over the lip Of a coffee cup Listening to tall tales Gossip at a gallop There is recognition In exchange. Under the table Dancing…

All noise Is of equal value It is all meaningless. Tip the bottle Bottoms up Tear out another page Rip out your heart Light a fire Watch it smoulder. Nobody will know What it…

All noise Is of equal value It is all meaningless. Tip the bottle Bottoms up Tear out another page Rip out your heart Light a fire Watch it smoulder. Nobody will know What it…

It does worry me, as I have no idea how to resolve it. I know I should We all should, but it doesn’t happen Good things come and go. Half the time Is spent rueing what we Never…

Self talk We all have it We take it to heart When it mocks We listen when it Whispers sweet things Pretending to care Stripping us bare. Tearing away every layer To expose the…

Sometimes being in England would be less stressful. Perhaps it is true Love lies Sleeping, Beneath linen sheets Bunched up Balled into fists Hastily discarded Unwashed Scrunched…

In those early days Hot blood Heating your cheeks Burning through Every humiliation Every rejection Sexual awakenings Every morning Relationship breakups At every turn Caught in A…

In those early days Hot blood Heating your cheeks Burning through Every humiliation Every rejection Sexual awakenings Every morning Relationship breakups At every turn Caught in A…

A time of poppies In profusion Petals tumbling Dripping blood red Rivers flow endlessly Muddied in shallows Stick-dried in hot sun Snapping like twigs Brambles are prisons Organic…

There will come a time When lying alone Wrapped in forgetting, Cuccooned against The wither of time The circumstance Of broken things The litter of scattered Thoughts The dreams…

From a distance Helping hands Are so hard to come by The walking frames Wobbling On the footpath So many of you In breathable fabrics With elastic waists Scrag ends Herded by…

I’ll talk to Sylvie about it. It was never simple Even though In retrospect, it is easy To believe it was. The thought of it As intoxicating As the real thing Your head rests in…

I have seen through The cloak they wear Hunched up Against the wall Nursing a cold cup Fearing their shadow As it falls Hoping to leave In peace Wincing at The noise of tables The…

There is no rhyme to it. As I grow older My skin loosens Its grip On my bones It barely fits In the right places An old raincoat More than a little shabby After too much wear…

Give me Tour guides Flight attendants Life coaching As therapy Drinking In a beer garden Under giant umbrellas In the rain Buying a round Group hugs, Appointment television Where…

Silent freckles make A greater impact On me Than trumpets blown At the front Of a cavalry charge Or the cries of the infantry Going down Waving the red, white and blue For god and…

Kora died on this day in 2016. Sometimes There is room To fit all the pieces Loosely together My changeability Is as uncertain As the weather I have placed you Forever In my heart…

Sometimes There is room To fit all the pieces Loosely together My changeability Is as uncertain As the weather I have placed you Forever In my heart You are my lifeblood Through…

It is lamentable The echo of defeat The lack of completion The uneven repetition I am mirrored The backsilver flaking Creating jagged wounds I am unhinged A broken, tarnished…

It doesn’t matter How tall you are, A stand-up guy Straight as a die Dignified Urbane or matter-of-fact, When the camera is stuck Up your digestive tract To rummage around inside…

When things were good The money, a steady stream Work, going well I let off steam Playing jazz in a hangdog dive With low light and low life Who shovelled coke On credit cards…

The Shawl. I touch the fabric Feel the texture between my fingers The weft gently snagging On whorls of skin The wonder of it The tingle of memory A sorrowed veil That even now…

Are there any secrets Left Perhaps, For just One moment Before the bubbles burst. Frost is not White rot Ice expands The Earth revolves Around the sun We are all Lost in space…

There were no old times Time is not like that There was just before Not now Just then. When everything looked bright The world was new Glass gleamed Sparkled like a toothpaste add…

I don’t know The way of things Not many do Some people pretend to Shouting the odds Demanding to be heard To be followed Worshipped As demigods. Few of them Are noteworthy None of…

So much is lost In the jumble Of broken pieces Every passing day Begins and ends Gazing at the sky The regularity of design, Edges falling away Folding into corners. All…

Ages end Biographers lie Truth is lost Batons are dropped Nobody passes them on Without altering their progress Hand over hand. There are no messages Without a messenger…

I don’t own it How can I It’s just a door But it opens and closes When I want it to So who cares About ownership When something is mutually Benificial I guess that might sound…

I try When I’m dry. I guess we all do In a bittersweet way There is nothing between me And the person in the next room But a wall It is a division we all tolerate. I drink to…

When we were kids We were fools To believe Beautiful movie People were real. Making love On a riverbank Rolling in the mud Towing flat-bottomed boats Plodging knee deep Through…

I sat on a bag All night in an airport What a place, I believe it was in Malta. It could have been a dream Maybe a nightmare It felt like it at the time But do you get Policemen…

I am diminished With each passing year Love is the only thing Between me and obscurity Put me to the sword If you disagree Pare me down to size There is barely enough Flesh to…

A newborn sun hides Behind Slick, grey cloud Waiting for the break, The ground, a scab of old snow. Green shoots of recovery Peep through dirty drifts Announcing summer with a…

Not so bad, really. My aunty Jen Was a good old gal With her sad story Never told But always known She lived with Grams, Until she died, Then stayed at home alone. She deserved…

My aunty Jen Was a good old gal With her sad story Never told But always known She lived with Grams, Until she died, Then stayed at home alone. She deserved more For all the shit…

The A/C is fitted, it looks fine and works okay. Old houses lean, Together In tired rows A dowdy collection Alongside the sharp-edged Steel and glass Handily placed Just a stone's…

I am laid low Disease crept up on me overnight It burrowed under the covers Invaded my body With its vapours Ragged breath whistling Through my cavity I am nothing but An old…

Old houses lean, Together In tired rows A dowdy collection Alongside the sharp-edged Steel and glass Handily placed Just a stone's throw away, In a slice of good fortune Throwable…

It has been a good day so far. I love you In the morning With toothpaste On your lips I love you In the evening When you Sway your hips I love you In starlight With a twinkle in…

The sky can fall in The floor rise up The walls move closer In confinement. Books Lie open Sundry words Roll out with a smattering Of expletives Salting the air If my father were…

Thank god for restraint Without it I might develop a taste For leather Eat an old brown shoe Whisper, ‘She loves you’ Into the ear Of a passing stranger Go barefoot In the park…

I am today Not yesterday One day last week This time Next Tuesday Sometime in the future Long ago In the dim and distant Before the discovery Of fire After the flood When the…

I love you In the morning With toothpaste On your lips I love you In the evening When you Sway your hips I love you In starlight With a twinkle in your eyes The motion of planets…

Death is an unkind cut What good does it do What does it mean Nobody knows. Is there a connection A meeting of minds A halfway house A community of strangers Making their way To…

Grandad Was a pitman He wore a pocket watch On a chain With a T-bone Threaded Through a buttonhole in his Waistcoat. He swung it Back and forth Before plopping it Into his pocket.…

I can’t imagine reality I want to spit it out When I look back I see you Not me There is much to find In blank slates Everything has happened before If only I could be there With…

Avoid mirrors Cover up Go out After midnight To take the air Glide in shadow Be a Vampire Say very little Whisper if you can Adopt a persona Designed for Longevity Make it work…

Do gods smile, laugh, share jokes? A meditation on the eternal, the everyday, and what lies between.

Oh my! You Vibrant Hibiscus Pushing out Into the footpath Standing out From a gaggle Of disorderly shrubs Defending their space Demanding to be noticed Admired Fondled. You bloom…

They will Slap you down Rattle your cage With faint praise Give a little Take it back Wipe the smile off your face With the back of a hand Fob you off Dismissed With a broken…

There are Somedays When I sit in front of the fire Watching the flames Flicker Until They consume me Throw in a newspaper I've read it before You should never burn a book, What is…

I cower Beneath the covers When thunder sounds, Most of us do, I pull them right up Over my head Wet the bed Shiver with fright Bite my tongue Choke back a scream Pray to god For…

If I stand still Barely breathing Perfectly immobile Pretending to be dead Covered with a white cloth An old statue In a stately home Closed up for the winter The family Safely…

If I stand still Barely breathing Perfectly immobile Pretending to be dead Covered with a white cloth An old statue In a stately home Closed up for the winter The family Safely…

An old woman Hell bent Drags a limping shadow She shakes It shakes Trying to break free Who will be the first to die The sky leaden With apothecary Spirits Winding sheets Weighed…

You say you like What I have to say Which is a wonder When I doubt its Sincerity The truth of my words Lie In their absence of conviction Nothing erks me more Than a lack Of…

I am splayed Flayed From top to bottom Spatchcocked Every nerve laid bare Naked without ambition. The rudeness Of it Is depressingly Familiar I am as I was Before I began. I…

They say the sun Will play anywhere Except where it won’t Which is The way it has always been Whatever the scriptures say Nothing happens Overnight Deterioration will Be…

A dry mouth startle Of confusion Darkness Thicker than molasses Eyes rolling back in A silent scream Helplessly discordant Somnolence Dissolving In a welter of splintered Images.…

It may not be Intentional I lost my romance To punctuation Even without commas The syntax is all wrong These long years Since So many minutes Before the clock stopped I am Already…

If feeling is everything, Sing the song Lead with the heart Not that it matters A wit or a why for. When it comes to counting The cost Of farewell Or the lack of a penny In your…

An old woman Hell bent Drags a limping shadow She shakes It shakes Trying to break free Who will be the first to die The sky leaden With apothecary Spirits Winding sheets Weighed…

An innocent, Naïvely child like. A foolish sprite With wanderlust Making an escape bundle Of a comfort blanket Shuffling in slippers Into the cold. Standing amid The re-birthing…

I am splayed Flayed From top to bottom Spatchcocked Every nerve laid bare Naked without ambition. The rudeness Of it Is depressingly Familiar I am as I was Before I began. I…

These are testing times When the strength of our resolve Is weakened by the lessening Of our hold on each other. As reality picks away at The barely healed scars Of yesterday,…

Border control. I am dandelion. Beautiful In isolation. In abundance An overflow Of stems and leaves Fighting for the right To survive. Taking over your Carefully tended borders…

What of the gentle simmer? The hot flush As temperatures rise. Held in check By fear of consequence The uncontained burst Into the world The seethe of uncontrolled Passion A…

They say the sun Will play anywhere Except where it won’t Which is The way it has always been Whatever the scriptures say Nothing happens Overnight Deterioration will Be…

In the snow flakes As they spiralled To the ground Moments of beauty Never to be repeated The sun Peeped from behind The trees Playing a sensuous game Of hide and seek For want of…

I am alien Even to myself With little to reason In appearance I am as lost As the poppy Among tulips Cut me down I say. It would be easier Than curating my presence I am a…

It is a strange proximity. To sit by a bed Without chance to rest And behold a pastoral scene, With flowering cherry Daffodils and tulip shoots Competing for attention With a…

I haven’t much To say About ennui I lost the words To lassitude Frittered them away On hot nights Tossed them out Dashed them against the wall To see if they would stick Few did…

Where are you When those sad eyes close. Does truth follow, Is fear a close companion, Driving itself Into the deepest aspects Of your person-hood, Winkling out secrets, Hidden,…

It has been a pleasure to walk this way. The road though at times uneven And difficult to follow Was never to be lost, But in wending, The chance of divergence and dalliance Was…

There is a moment When breaking is easy All that holds the balance Of our lives So precariously together, Splintered. The final tap So lightly driven, Of itself Innocuous in…

Love is more than passion The hot flush Whenever you meet The intake of breath When you touch The vacuum of absence. It is a longing That never fades A need to hear Her voice Its…

If it can be Why isn't it The whys and wherefores Are no more Important Than both and. Bootstraps do not Pull you up Some people have no Fallback position They are already On the…

The stain Of coffee cups Mar the table Interlinked Haphazard patterns Enhanced Olympic rings The dust of yesterday The rime of despair The smell of rot From the bin in the corner…

I saw him fall It was a video A clip on the television Maybe it was in passing The moment Has stayed with me. The day it happened I was sleeping The impact Left me reeling I have…

Valentine… What will it take To make a memory How do you know Before they form? Will this day Be one to remember For its sincerity, Perfect symmetry The simplicity Of the moment.…

Sugar. If feeling is everything, Sing the song Lead with the heart Not that it matters A wit or a why for. When it comes to counting The cost Of farewell Or the lack of a penny In…

Old soldiers never die… Friends… What happened? They had my back, Would take a bullet, Carry me over the Dead men, Who would never Leave the land,. Refuse to let me go Until they…

We all look the same Under a microscope Below the surface layers That are all too Easily recognised as different. Unless we are ill Our life blood and cells under attack From an…

My tongue is stilled The words I choose do not flow Their inadequacy when obliged to form, Laid bare. Once erudite, my conversations Range in meaningless progression A pointless…

With Teddy this morning. He said… ‘Well… It may not be for me to say But you do have a lot to be thankful for. You both love one another. Make each other laugh and cry… But in a…

It is a gift Given to wastefulness. It can disappear In the sour taste of A broken promise Whispered in the ear Of a stranger, Before its significance Is understood. Each moment…

Hello…how are you…? There is a moment When the mask slips And the truth is revealed It happens quickly A shadow passing across the eyes The corner of the mouth twisting down The…

There is so much good In people How does it get lost In the crowd When the rabble shout And the soft voice Is silenced By the loudest. How strong does A moderate man Need to be…

Guilt….so often a useless emotion. What good are you? When all is said and done Nothing good will ever Come from your Incessant intervention, Tearing at the fabric, Unravelling…

There is lightness A transparency Something wonderful And yet it frightens me With its otherness. In the opaque atmosphere Clinging to me like molasses To a wooden spoon Sweet and…

I know now, Although knowing is Often thought to be A fallback position, A drawbridge pulled up, With little room Left for manoeuvre. Once said There is nowhere you can go, Unlike…

What is it about talking That interferes with thinking. Music can wash over The body, Soak into the pores, Flush out the soul. Random thoughts blossom, Grow from tiny seeds Into…

We are here Breathing the same air Living together. What a chance to share The fruits of our love. When nothing is mine If it is not Also for you. How would it be If I could not…

Hospital corridors. Wild is the wind that blows, Even on a still day. Along busy corridors Blank faced people wait, As life and death Sweeps by Incognito, Bowling over the chosen,…

At moments like this, When the body feels More than flesh, In its aches And agues, There lies a connection Between us. Even the edges, Where the air touches The skin. And the…

In looking ahead we see our past. We measure gains made, And judge ourselves harshly. Ever the critic Of our own failure, We examine the pain Of our loss. Some drown in it, Swoon,…

The illusion is I am talking to you, Opening up Spilling out What lies inside Growing stale Corrupted By disuse What once was honey Sweet as nectar Is as foul as pig swill Left…

Just a moment ago, The child within Was me. What did he see? To make him What he has become. A cheeky presence, A sulking teen. A promise, Of what might have been. The best and…

I am damned Words boil out Erupting ectoplasm I am lost without rancour I wear skin Like a leather jacket Handed down by My older brother It is split and creased From too much…

Christmas Eve. It is the expectation. The hush. The moment , Before the touch. The thought Before the deed. The flower Before the seed. The look That needs no words. The flight Of…

Another time passages. Slipping away, By stages. A slow descent, A gentle decline, A hazy sunset, Smouldering on the horizon. A fiery remnant Bathing in after glow. A glint in the…

The meat is falling from the bone. Nothing will stop it As gravity pulls it down. Even the floor looks inviting, It rocks a little, From side to side, Hanging on is a matter of…

Get out damned critic Go, get out, cease. Leave this troubled soul In peace. Your carping voice A constant companion. A screech of disdain At every move. A niggle, at every turn.…

To love Is no cliché. To feel your heart Swell to bursting, Filling your chest, Light headed, Struggling for breath, Lost for words, At the mere thought Of separation, Is no…

Innocence dies. Weak is the flesh. It hangs in strips, So easily flayed By words, That drip From poisoned lips. It is torn, By the gun, Swung from cowboy hips. The easy death,…

There is beauty, Even in blood and dirt. But is it enough, To see it Hanging by a thread, Barely alive, But not yet dead? Innocent eyes, So vast and wide They swallow the skies.…

I can taste it The marrow in my bones Is like toothpaste I am a Squeezebox Play me. There is nothing To stop the jiggle The jelly roll Shiver me with the back Of your hand. How…

I can taste it The marrow in my bones Is like toothpaste I am a Squeezebox Play me. There is nothing To stop the jiggle The jelly roll Shiver me with the back Of your hand. How…

These are the days I choose to remember. When the wind plants A friendly kiss Upon my face. And turns each page With a kindly shrug, That brushes at The dust of yesterday. Rolling…

Though as do all, She ages. But with grace, The pain and joy of life Written in her heart. I trace my fingers Between lines, As so finely speak Of life so truly lived. And recall…

The feeling never dies. It hides a little, Waiting in corners, Sharing space With childhood dreams, The hope of vows made. A newborn’s cry, That first touch, Of skin on skin, Oh…

You’ve never lived Until you’ve woken up At the bottom of the stairs, With a pillow under your head A bowl to throw up in Your shoes in the rack Coat hung up On a hook And a…

What will come of this mark? No more than a ripple To mar the surface . Will it take long to fade? Or quickly disappear, With all the grace Of a blood red sunset On the equator. A…

Am I falling? Do things happen Of their own volition Is anything preordained How would I know The world stretches out In all directions Narrow paths Lead me on A merry dance I am…

Am I falling? Do things happen Of their own volition Is anything preordained How would I know The world stretches out In all directions Narrow paths Lead me on A merry dance I am…

For those few. And still they fly. The few, Who were too many To lose. Wearing wings, That in four weeks Of frantic flight Became theirs to keep, For all eternity. Watching over…

Back to my laptop, for now. People with antlers Heads full of chaos Bloody jokers Silly chokers With silent screams Trapped in a mind game Three scoops Of heaven Complete With a…

People with antlers Heads full of chaos Bloody jokers Silly chokers With silent screams Trapped in a mind game Three scoops Of heaven Complete With a chocolate flake Not to be…

A life. How much for it? No more than what it is worth, In time wasted and taken into account, At a time of reckoning. When all is said And the folly of a fair belief Is…

Sometimes, Away from the lights And noise of the city, In a quiet corner, Dark and dirty, Behind the trash can, Sits an old man, Wrapped in clothes He found in a black bag,…

I have nothing No wit nor wisdom Few if any Fine words Little to ruffle feathers Breach etiquette Bring about change In the state of play The way people think Is self-made. There…

Fecking hell, as the Irish would say. I have nothing No wit nor wisdom Few if any Fine words Little to ruffle feathers Breach etiquette Bring about change In the state of play The…

She is many tastes, From salt to sweetest sugar, Smoky molasses That hints of exotic places, Kicking away the traces, And walking the silk trail, Lying together On a hay bale.…

The easy way Is to forget That other people think And feel Much the same as you. They ruminate and cogitate. Calibrate their lives In terms of loss, And love. Nurture pain Deep…

That moment Of disconnection When the operator pulls the plug The snake hiss Of the void The loneliness Of an empty space When the starry mass Is unfamiliar The complexity Of…

That moment Of disconnection When the operator pulls the plug The snake hiss Of the void The loneliness Of an empty space When the starry mass Is unfamiliar The complexity Of…

Take heart From the little things. They count as reminders, That not every thought Should carry you away On a flight of fancy. With your head Stuck in the clouds Whilst twinkling…

Love moves you. It calls you back, Stops you from leaving, And forgetting The meaning of things. It keeps you alive On the inside, And sends your Heart in a spin When you fear the…

Since nothing matters, Opinions are two a penny Plucked Out of thin air Every single one A rich vein Of righteous indignation The answers capitalised Exclamation marks Are the…

He wears yesterday's pants. Nobody knows, He doesn’t need a clean Pair to water plants. Stains on his vest Mark the spot Where he wiped his hands After falling Shit faced On the…

She seems fine. I feel empty. He wears yesterday's pants. Nobody knows, He doesn’t need a clean Pair to water plants. Stains on his vest Mark the spot Where he wiped his hands…

When the sun dies Who will mourn its passing? Will it have a soul? And if it does What will light its way? As it stumbles in a darkness Never known. Will it founder, For all…

Willows weep Bluebells droop The hope of spring Lost to ruin Early bloom Squashed by hard rain Swilled through Swollen puddles Field sprites Rolling in the dell Afraid to enter…

Even tide, When boats come in From days at sea, Old, barnacle encrusted Flat bottoms, That scrape Across sandbanks. On decks like these, Gnarled old hands Count crabs, Check for…

What is truth? When it is hard to say What we are, Who we will be, Where we have been, Which road we will take. What will we meet When the journey begins. When will we know If it…

There is no dead of night It lives, Swirling in stardust Bright stars Illuminating shadows Highlighting Ripples on the water Where fat rats swim In search of supper Skaters slip…

Haunting the surroundings, Slipping through walls, Inhabiting the air, Creating a silence So loud, it bursts Through the drone Of background noise. It tickles eardrums with A wash…

There are days When lights go down Moths hide in corners Waiting for a spark To brighten their lives Barely able to contain themselves Bouncing off a ceiling In need of guidance…

If love springs eternal, In an endless stream, It will grow to be mighty And nourish the sea. If love is a mountain That reaches the sky, Nothing will stop you From climbing so…

Sober, In front of the television It is blank, A great black hole In front of the window. A cute middle-aged couple In matching shirts, Autumnal colours, Fuss around the edges…

There is a smile, Where we find sadness. And laughter, Melancholic, Though it may be. Not all is bleak And lost in shadow, Moonlight casts A silhouette. The darkest moments Dance…

Everything descends Except heat Which rises As does smoke Okay Everything that isn’t lighter than air Descends Unless you lie low Lower than that Waiting to rise. Stairs have…

What good does it do To dwell in the past. With your thoughts Never present, For more than a second. Fleeting moments Of harmony, as the world Flies by In discord. Seeing it all…

There are days, When even flowers In a vase Smell of sorrow. Turned old, Like brittle twigs, On broken gravestones. Covered in moss And the last remains Of a scattered bouquet,…

I know I should We all should, but it doesn’t happen Good things come and go. Half the time Is spent rueing what we Never had Forgetting the laughter The tumble on a pallet Of…

Perhaps it is true Love lies Sleeping, Beneath linen sheets Bunched up Balled into fists Hastily discarded Unwashed Scrunched behind The bathroom door Lying on the floor…

The Eleventh Day. A time of poppies In profusion Petals tumbling Dripping blood red Rivers flow endlessly Muddied in shallows Stick-dried in hot sun Snapping like twigs Brambles…

There will come a time When lying alone Wrapped in forgetting, Cuccooned against The wither of time The circumstance Of broken things The litter of scattered Thoughts The dreams…

It was never simple Even though In retrospect, it is easy To believe it was. The thought of it As intoxicating As the real thing Your head rests in the crook of my arm I am…

Lay your eyes on me If you will, I am not invisible To the naked eye. It is true I have never seen one dressed Unless a patch counts As apparel. Damn your hypocrisy I am numbed By…

There is no rhyme to it. As I grow older My skin loosens Its grip On my bones It barely fits In the right places An old raincoat More than a little shabby After too much wear…

Sometimes, caught in a smile Even a laugh will break free, Of the holding cell. Whole conversations, Minefields, by comparison To uneasy silence, Pass by, with little Self rebuke.…

What had they become, When it came time, For the weighing Up to begin? Laid to waste, Years fell by And were left to rot, In wayside heaps. Landfill memories, Abandoned journeys,…

The disruption To the peace, When morning coffee Spills across the floor. Followed by a tortured squeal, As a four year old, Searching for boundaries, Is brought to heal. Roughly…

The sole of my shoe Smacks into the pavement Sometimes I’m floating Above my expectations Before the sting of the wind Jolts me back again Out of battery lately. Not so you would…

He is drowning. Every breath chokes The life out of him. Walking in molasses, Muscles scream With indignation. He is stretched To breaking point, Living beyond his means, Fighting…

Only epitaphs are Written in stone Most things change The grease on my skin Waxes and wanes. There is no dream Worth dying for, That would be a nightmare. Life is irredeemable…

In the crisp crunch of a dry leaf, Newly fallen, Providing a bed On which to walk. Pure white Virgin snow, With only, The tell tale marks Of an early bird, To mar its surface. A…

He is an island. A castaway. Drifting alone. We all are. Spending every day Under the sun, Gazing into the distance. Searching the horizon For tall ships. We wait for low tide To…

Someone is married Somebody died Somebody has a voice Someone has not. Loudly distorted Choice words Batter at the door With no context To call their own Disembodied They tumble…

I gaze at the horizon It shimmers Glimmers Never still Moving further away All things converge Into a single point Of focus A singularity It is a mathematics More ancient than…

Will you forget me? Let darkness enter your heart. Filling the space, Where once I stood. Before the flood Of days Came between us, And washed away My foothold. Will you stand…

It is lamentable The echo of defeat The lack of completion The uneven repetition. I am mirrored The backsilver flaking Creating jagged wounds I am unhinged A broken, tarnished…

It was not wisdom That came with age, But invisibility, He had the bruises To prove it. Although his joints Were stiff, And the bones Always seemed to Rub him up the wrong way, He…

Rainy days and Wednesdays. Even raindrops cry. Tears within tears, Waiting to burst, Not with a shout, But a whisper. The inside More delicate, Easy to hurt. Tenderness resides,…

No women in black No women in red No men to speak of On a night as dark I walk the blind A narrow path The sea lies deep To either side It takes but a dog’s breath To blow me…

The sound, A tap, dripping. Water, hitting The cracked enamel, Dirty from a life Of sin, An explosion, That cuts him in half, Like gunfire. It tears right through him Ripping his…

Water vapour Trails behind me A great train Steaming through the night A mysterious destination An oriental surprise The bones of the carriage Brightly polished Smooth as ivory…

Nothing much happens, For an hour Just before dawn, When he can walk By Canary Wharf And think it is the end of days. The occasional car, And a night bus Full of dreary faces,…

Trees dance They are not very quick On their feet But oh Do they sway. I am a shadow on the wall An imprint Pressed into plaster A wallflower. The hawk rips at wet flesh In a…

Trees dance They are not very quick On their feet But oh Do they sway. I am a shadow on the wall An imprint Pressed into plaster A wallflower. The hawk rips at wet flesh In a…

It waits in the hall. On the landing. Behind the cellar door. In the coal house. In the space beneath the stairs. Under your bed. The hole in the fence, With just enough room To…

A senseless fall The maddening nature of it Incomprehensible Psychotic delusion Alcoholic confusion Mental fragility Stealing him away Blame is worse than sorrow His, mine, yours…

Not to worry. I am tired now and will hope for a good night’s sleep. A senseless fall The maddening nature of it Incomprehensible Psychotic delusion Alcoholic confusion Mental…

Written in memory. Captured in hearts. Stored in the meaning We give to our lives. Hidden in shadows, Behind closed curtains. To keep out the night, When strangers meet, And come…

A lost and disunited kingdom. As it comes nearer, In some strange way It grows more indistinct. It does look bigger, Filling up the space between Today and tomorrow, But the…

I am the autumn leaf And I fall. A slow meander, Twisting and turning. Blown higher, lower. Carried by a careless wind I cover great distance, Only to be snatched back, As a…

What is this haunting darkness, Chased with shadows, That stretch and flex Their shapeless form, Into this fractured room. A wicked claw, That flows beneath The anchored safety Of…

We thought it could wait. It was a hard truth, Not easy to learn Nobody, really Has time to burn. But days seemed long, And lights along the Thames Were brighter, When haloed by…

Dance On my cloth cap Squash it down Hold me close Connect me To the ground There is nothing under the sun That cannot be free Sit with me Beneath a tree Bring me a posy Let me…

Look closer, And you will see What you have missed. Listen and you will hear The slightest sound. Wait until you find An answer. Seek, Until you find no more. It sounds so easy…

We are statues Gazing out to sea Standing waist-deep Waterlogged Unconnected to the future Welded in time Commemorating failure To progress Brass plaques on a wall Names without…

Gormless days We are statues Gazing out to sea Standing waist-deep Waterlogged Unconnected to the future Welded in time Commemorating failure To progress Brass plaques on a wall…

The past travels with us. A stalking horse, So close we hear The pounding of its hooves. It fills the ears, A sound that chills the bones. And every step of the way We fear it is…

Let me lie. I am too tired to cry. The strain of living Is too heavy A price to pay, Today. Even thinking, Just for a moment, That those words Last, Their weight Will inter me, In…

The best of us Know when to stay quiet To say nowt To say they don’t know When sometimes they do Holding forth Is not a pretty sight If you filibuster Your way through It is…

Not a toy, A gaudy bracelet Wrapped in golden foil. A birthday gift, From a child. Tightly bound, In brightly coloured Tissue paper. Nestled in cotton wool, Carefully placed, Too…

Your invisible friend. He was invisible. Here and there, But not anywhere In particular. Part of the story, But not essential. A watcher not a Dancer. Never central. A peripheral…

Nothing is lost That can’t be found. Somewhere, There is a little boy Who disappeared Torn from life, Where did he go? The little girl Who grew up too soon Trying to forget,…

It is close to spring in Australia. And while I sit, Lost in quiet contemplation, Of life and meaning, With my first cup of coffee Still hot and steaming, People ready themselves…

She is, She was And will be, Always, Deep within me. Whether here, Or there, When she goes, Her own way, Even though, I know not where, Nothing will tear Her away from me.…

Do I yet know, Just who I am, What I am meant to be, When, even after all these years Nothing is clear. Even though my eyes Are open, I am sightless. And if I look twice, I am…

Even as it hangs, unmoving, The clock ticks. Fresh orange peel finally curls, Turns black. The ragged edges wither And lose their spongy Flexibility. Growing hard and brittle.…

It should always be Emotion and feeling Not the thought of it The jolly jape With a snigger Behind the bike sheds Poke of it. Tickle my fancy Is no relationship Of equals. Give me…

Though you cry, the pain Plain to see. The terror in your eyes, The fear, unspoken. When words Are not enough Meaning, Is in the silence Suspended, invisible, As the air…

The shadows talk in Murmurs. No more Than rumours in the dark. Seeping through walls, Slipping between the cracks In my soul. Haunting my waking, Tormenting my dreams With their…

There is always something, Even now, The first kiss of spring, The bright sparkle of the sun On the smooth, blue-green Of the bay I am drawn to Remember Everything In a shade of…

In the midst of life and love. It suits the mood Prevailing. Grey and tired, Hung over from too much Of yesterday, And not enough of today. Draped as it is, Over the corpse Of…

It is a belief, That some of us have nothing Whatever the evidence To the contrary, It is a belief, That a few of us have something Perhaps more than most. An imbalance. What if…

We watch them grow into the world. Fearing their fragility, Struggling to satisfy Simple needs, That in truth Demand So little understanding. We spend so much energy Protecting…

There will be those Who say They know What is what From what is not Why is a blood orange? Paper mache mountains Melt in summer Glace cherries On cocktail sticks Float down to the…

I carry it with me More than a passenger A vicious predator Pestering Posturing Delivering a verdict An indictment A running commentary Continually sniping Carpng Griping and…

Other than that, it was a quiet day at home alone. I carry it with me More than a passenger A vicious predator Pestering Posturing Delivering a verdict An indictment A running…

I dreamed I ran a marathon With boundless energy A spring in my step And a change of pace, With enough time To take a diversion To hug my wife Before skipping through The tape to…

I dreamed I ran a marathon With boundless energy A spring in my step And a change of pace, With enough time To take a diversion To hug my wife Before skipping through The tape to…

It is hard to describe In broken English The complexity of it The simplicity of it The lay of it on the land The smooth irritation Of its coarse vulgarity. Farms have irrigation…

In recline I climb mountains Walk with gods I am at the dawn of time Walking with Dinosaurs An eagle In flight An astronaut With a drinking straw. Lost in space Looking down at…

There are moments Of disconnection For all of us. It can be anywhere The drifting between worlds The in-before time. I should have written More letters. Phone calls could be so…

I hold a casket, As bountiful as a promise Of sunshine in July Ripened and fruitful Tended by hummingbirds Locked up tight Against the harshness Of winter, Ready to be opened…

There was a time When I jousted with life. If asked About my day I would obfuscate Mumble a platitude Reflect the question back Rather than admit To doing nothing. Is that true?…

The stars fall From the sky Rotten apples Full of worms Hot as coals Sharp as razors A rapier wind Cutting like a knife Slicing at the collar Shredding my jacket With precision…

Sometimes I am less Sometimes more It is hard to keep track When the rains fall The trail is overgrown The wind blows With little regulation Without guidance I am a footprint I go…

Sometimes I am less Sometimes more It is hard to keep track When the rains fall The trail is overgrown The wind blows With little regulation Without guidance I am a footprint I go…

He ambled In a third-rate suit Rambled Through the first edition Of a second storey Fell through a window Found the hidden agenda In a seller's market. It was all he could do Not…

Blood relations Blood might be Thicker But it still drips from Your fingers Drains into the sand There is no stuffing it back in Without a needle In the arm A biscuit and a cup of…

Blood might be Thicker But it still drips from Your fingers Drains into the sand There is no stuffing it back in Without a needle In the arm A biscuit and a cup of tea. Nobody is…

We fall among thieves Too easily We live with vagabonds Preaching restraint As they poison the water To keep the people Supplicant, Mending their socks Spending their time Backs…

We fall among thieves Too easily We live with vagabonds Preaching restraint As they poison the water To keep the people Supplicant, Mending their socks Spending their time Backs…

It was another quiet day. The window is an art form The landscape changes With the movement of the heavens The drift of the clouds I can see her Paint dripping onto the canvas…

The window is an art form The landscape changes With the movement of the heavens The drift of the clouds I can see her Paint dripping onto the canvas Creating magic. Nothing I…

There is nothing here No beggars to ignore Poems to write with Meanings underscored Emotions overwrought. There are no tulips Worth more Than the roof over my head Vintage wine As…

I’m stuck Rooted to the spot My willingness to move Has been lost There is no doubting Succumbed to innui. The drift between The past and present Is a gentle sway There are no…

A shadow, uncloaked Slipping to the floor, Lost in the deep. I’ve done it again Without even trying I am unhinged Floating free. If this were a cliff I would be falling Instead of…

You might not see it Believe it Or feel it But there are people On this world In this street Walking in the shadows Engulfed in the filth of it The rat-infested stink of it There…

Wild seas roar, Pounding defences. Dirty cities never sleep Some souls toil Hands work the soil Others tend the sick. Nothing is ever easy Even dying can be hard On the living The…

Wild seas roar, Pounding defences. Dirty cities never sleep Some souls toil Hands work the soil Others tend the sick. Nothing is ever easy Even dying can be hard On the living The…

Nothing is permanent It never was. Life is An imperfect state With little clarity Of purpose. The sky is full of chatter Circuit boards in space. Pinpoint acuity With little pause…

What is much When little is enough To touch The heart Poke me in the eye I am unmoved Memories Are like that Purient Interest In the presence Of life Is of no use In the end There…

When the rains fall, Anaemic skies Are bloodless. Anything I thought was vibrant Is flushed away. Every sound I ever heard Is second-hand. Just like the idea Of writing something…

I am as still as a painting The action frozen In timeless execution A latency of movement Bolted to the wall Useful as a coat hook Draped in shadow Veiled in the corner. Many…

The moon floats, A balloon discarded Unmoored by happenstance. Arms raised, The trees exhort themselves To do better Than surrender. Nothing moves A village abandoned Retaining…

I carry a wineskin Leathered with age Cracked around the mouth Leaking from the seams Leaving a trail A tell-tale Drip drip drip Across the floor From the cellar to the door. It…

Birthday bash. I carry a wineskin Leathered with age Cracked around the mouth Leaking from the seams Leaving a trail A tell-tale Drip drip drip Across the floor From the cellar to…

Hope is a parlour trick I think I have its measure Only to wrestle with it Half the night I have followed in its shadow Trying to unmask The way of it Find the secret Of its…

All good. There is no dominance To be proud of Fear lies deep Down in the bowl. The foundering root of us Surrounded by lifeless rock Unfashioned stone Expressionless A face…

Perhaps in her heart She was young, She hid it well The loss of hope. Pushing a trolley, An exoskeleton Full of past mistakes. She sold herself Many times over Looking for love…

I’m not sure It is a good thing To get used to Everything being a little crazy Even a lot crazy. Sitting in a corner A little Jack Horner Absently sucking your thumb Grieving…

I’m not sure It is a good thing To get used to Everything being a little crazy Even a lot crazy. Sitting in a corner A little Jack Horner Absently sucking your thumb Grieving…

On a still day Filled with green and blue The whisper of welcome In the softness of leaves Blanketing the grass The memory of a kiss The taste of it on my lips Drifting in time…

There are worse things, I can’t name them in order I just know, God would know. See how easy it is To pitch it all out of a basket Watch it scatter across the floor The mess of it…

A dry sun Fingers the grey slate floor Smoking through the curtain A silvery thread A snails progress Marked against cold stone. The linger of sleep Creating an illusion Of…

Sundried morning. A dry sun Fingers the grey slate floor Smoking through the curtain A silvery thread A snails progress Marked against cold stone. The linger of sleep Creating an…

All this time So many footfalls The broken veins Of a chaotic life Charting a precarious progress. The holes in my shoes Do not bring me closer To the earth Everybody sinks down…

All this time So many footfalls The broken veins Of a chaotic life Charting a precarious progress. The holes in my shoes Do not bring me closer To the earth Everybody sinks down…

On a quiet street With few black hearts And nothing to see But reflections of other lives Staring back A river sprang up, A raging torrent A force majeure, It was more than a…

On a quiet street With few black hearts And nothing to see But reflections of other lives Staring back A river sprang up, A raging torrent A force majeure, It was more than a…

Perhaps it is a mistake To face the window When I sit to write I am too easily distracted By the wildlife Birds are intriguing When they feel unwatched Gossiping and pouting…

Autumn leaves It might be wishful thinking A colonial quirk But everyone I meet is adept At broken English Minding their step Tending their business Skirting the worst of the dog…

Of course, I should look After my health The clinicians Care so much that They send texts and reminders With recommendations Either for a blood test Or to take tablets Attend a…

A good day. Making the journey Finding a path I am all but with you Walking the woods Breathing in The welcome smell Of Jasmine. Love lingers In the honeyed Veil of darkness I…

Making the journey Finding a path I am all but with you Walking the woods Breathing in The welcome smell Of Jasmine. Love lingers In the honeyed Veil of darkness I call your name.…

There are people Writers, critics Who knows, who cares? I hope they sleep better than I. Do they wear nightshirts I wonder. Onesies or twosies? Whatever, But they do love to…

Jack, Jack Pass me a Kerouac Give the dog a home Feed it through the bars There is nothing to see From here But the road In the distance A shimmer In the haze A glimmer In my…

Do you enjoy it? The pain of it The lies told To keep secrets The rough cloth The taste of blood and sweat The suffering of the weak The victims Taken from their beds From under…

Safe and sound. Do you enjoy it? The pain of it The lies told To keep secrets The rough cloth The taste of blood and sweat The suffering of the weak The victims Taken from their…

If I listen to a Sparrow Is it worth more or less Than the words of a Crow They both have things to say So much noise Spilling out Going unanswered I could hear more If I had an…

Sometimes The scale of it The smell of it The colour of it The deep brown, earthy tang Of it. So many vibrant greens The stretch of A flexing sapling The girth of an Oak An old…

I remember The smell of her. It is not easy It needs a trigger Unlike the memory Of her face The inside of her thighs The tip of her fingers The mole on her toe. Smell is linked…

Bring it out Into the daylight Where it can be seen In a little more detail The bones of it The working theory The process of identification. From the bottom of the sea It looks…

I am not a bum Neither am I totally Washed up But I am half asleep And in need of a bath It doesn’t take a genius To work it out My mind is on the loose Again. The flesh of her…

There is a train of thought Winding itself around My globe Where the eyes can't see The febrile machinations Of the right guard, Which was a deodorant Back in the day Of full…

I pick up a few clothes Fold them away Socks and pants The little things. My back burns With a hot knife when I straighten It is always the little things The long walks under the…

Were there ever any Sensitive souls Beautiful people With good hearts Did they ever get old Was it always a lie Told by greybeards Old hands with mucus In the corners of their…

The longer we stay The harder it is to Hold on To the wine glass. Snapping the stem Grasping at straw men Less than substantial, Screeching out loud. A bunch of old crows Barely…

I wish I had been a better dad and husband I know better now, but too late is no good. The longer we stay The harder it is to Hold on To the wine glass. Snapping the stem Grasping…

There was a cultural Shift In the last century It didn’t last much longer Than Elvis, Kojac And the Quiet American. Steve McQueen may have had A hand in it He drove like a bullet…

There was a shift In the last century It didn’t last much longer Than Elvis, Kojac And the Quiet American, Steve McQueen may have had A hand in it. He drove like a bullet Made a…

My mind is clogged With a complexity Of disagreeable ideology If the word is love And blessed are the peacemakers What is success? Why is the pursuit of money A measure Rather…

Irony is inclusive My mind is clogged With a complexity Of disagreeable ideology If the word is love And blessed are the peacemakers What is success? Why is the pursuit of money A…

Cows do what they must As do cats and dogs Wolves do what they will To feed the pack Humans have a wont to do What they want Whilst some do what they should Cows ruminate Cats and…

Cows do what they must As do cats and dogs Wolves do what they will To feed the pack Humans have a wont to do What they want Whilst some do what they should Cows ruminate Cats and…

Nothing is ever simple The words of the dead Whisper unheard The living lie On frozen sheets As bleak as any winter Wishing to be somewhere other Than where they are Too many…

Nothing is ever simple The words of the dead Whisper unheard The living lie On frozen sheets As bleak as any winter Wishing to be somewhere other Than where they are Too many…

So long Under the tree In the end It is where She wanted to be I didn’t want her to go Selfishness is human I was beset by the devil He beat me with a stick Took me to task For…

There was a moment, More than one But this one This one in particular When, Just for a second It may have been And probably was Even more fleeting, When With a sudden intake of…

I feel it In the down-deep It is pervasive A trigger word The casual line Thrown away With little thought. The fall The splash of red As flat as a gutted fly On a windscreen. Wash…

Garbage strike. There are bin bags In the corner Next to the recycling Pushed back against the wall In deepest shadow Creating images Bloated bodies Stacked up Ready for the…

Midnight Rambler. All the while The soil lay there The flowers grew The crocuses The snowdrops too The sky was clear Star bright There were footprints In the flower beds A badger…

All the while The soil lay there The flowers grew The crocuses The snowdrops too The sky was clear Star bright There were footprints In the flower beds A badger sauntered…

There are some folks Who like to believe Shakespeare was a lie Such a writer Can’t be from the sticks A middle-class Country boy From a church school Without a classical education…

There are some folks Who like to believe Shakespeare was a lie Such a writer Can’t be from the sticks A middle-class Country boy From a church school Without a classical education…

At night it’s the stars And the moon Swimming together Shoal upon shoal Food for the killer An endless swirl Silvery skin sparkling Across a bottomless sky The moon, a baleful…

At night it’s the stars And the moon Swimming together Shoal upon shoal Food for the killer An endless swirl Silvery skin sparkling Across a bottomless sky The moon, a baleful…

“There is nothing You can say That will hurt anymore Than it already does.” So many say those words Hoping they are true. The fresh-cut flower Lies in her hand The flies buzz As…

“There is nothing You can say That will hurt anymore Than it already does.” So many say those words Hoping they are true. The fresh-cut flower Lies in her hand The flies buzz As…

We leave a trail Small traces In every touch Sweat and skin Muck and grime So much time spent Falling to pieces. Are we revenants Back from the grave So much of our lives Left to…

We leave a trail Small traces In every touch Sweat and skin Muck and grime So much time spent Falling to pieces. Are we revenants Back from the grave So much of our lives Left to…

A gallery of strangers Wrapped in sportswear Tubed in unctions Emobroacted muscles Encased in exercise bands Watches with lifelines Recording progress Marking time Making a…

Gowns and ghosts Even though the drawer is closed I know there is something Of her In the cloth In the weave Embedded in the creases When I folded it away. The tide of life flows…

I thought I would remember, It has happened before. Poems written in the air Whilst out walking Whole verses Slipping and sliding In and out Struggling to hold them Trying to keep…

“Are they roses?” He asked. “You bought her roses? What a cliche What a cliche.” I wondered where he was The voice came from the shadow Of an open door In an old house. There was…

“Are they roses?” He asked. “You bought her roses? What a cliche What a cliche.” I wondered where he was The voice came from the shadow Of an open door In an old house. There was…

Was there ever any doubt When you see a door Is it a way in Or a way out It is a strange affair The brevity of life Is it as you thought Is there time enough to care As the oily…

Was there ever any doubt When you see a door Is it a way in Or a way out It is a strange affair The brevity of life Is it as you thought Is there time enough to care As the oily…

You still sleep I wept I still weep I will a while yet There is no end to it The pain of it The rend of it There is only the waiting The wanting The despair I sit here As you lie…

Drifting through Time lines It is unconscious A circularity Bandying with facts Twisting their meaning Moving from one story To the next Never still Thinking in words Making…

Drifting through Time lines It is unconscious A circularity Bandying with facts Twisting their meaning Moving from one story To the next Never still Thinking in words Making…

An old teapot Sat on top of the dresser Stuffed with cash So she said From her bed in the corner At least, that is what I remember Of Grandma A head full of myth and taboo The…

An old teapot Sat on top of the dresser Stuffed with cash So she said From her bed in the corner At least, that is what I remember Of Grandma A head full of myth and taboo The…

There are no dragons Breathing fire Breaking bones Burning homes Sitting on piles of gold No demons Rending flesh Fueling the flames With newborn babes Halflings tearing infants…

Dungeons and Dragons There are no dragons Breathing fire Breaking bones Burning homes Sitting on piles of gold No demons Rending flesh Fueling the flames With newborn babes…

So they cleaned out the pond Today I don’t know who But I imagine it was The people who clean Away pondlife The Koi guys, The corporate body, May they rest in peace. I must have…

So they cleaned out the pond Today I don’t know who But I imagine it was The people who clean Away pondlife The Koi guys, The corporate body, May they rest in peace. I must have…

So what is this “nothing” That happens Without an observer? So much for perception Theories of Ambiguity A lack of information Unfound wanting. We are nothing If not verifiable…

One night, when I was young And drinking whisky from the bottle Was a decedent thing to do Before it became a habit Difficult to break, But I did, We stood In the garden, Lovers…

There are no big ideas Big men Big dreams Big hearts Big mistakes Big changes But Small steps Make a small difference. Small lies Become big ones All on their own If you let them…

There are not many things I am happy about, If anything at all. It’s a tall order, For the world is less Than it was Complexity is not art Red roses spit blood Coughing and…

They shed hollow tears Wailing at the gate Those who would be mourners Emoting with devotion Attached to their devices Recording the scene From the safety of a barrier, Baying for…

That some people Go through life with nary a care The way ahead easily read Their purpose clear The tasks achievable In a personable way Not too much to cause distress Or ruffle…

That some people Go through life with nary a care The way ahead easily read Their purpose clear The tasks achievable In a personable way Not too much to cause distress Or ruffle…

Paradise is full of zombies Reacting to the smell Of death Wobbly chins Staggering under the weight Of life. Ducking in and out Of daylight Drinking in the news Swapping stale…

The ground is cold It leaches through The soles of my feet I am osmosis In action Planted on the earth Vegetating Perhaps I will sprout leaves Turn green Become one with nature…

Would you tear through me Rend my house Asunder Pour through the cracks In my design Break me apart The bloom of tears The waste of years The way we fall apart The ruin of hate…

Love life and Balance. You would tear through me Rend my house Asunder Pour through the cracks In my design Break me apart The bloom of tears The waste of years The way we fall…

There are moments When he thinks “I might be dead.” Who would really know Would he know Would anybody care The television is switched off He stares at it For hours Waiting to see…

No castles burning No favours To wipe away the tears Of vanquished Or victor No huntsmen Howlers Or pirates Nothing to see Everything happens In timely fashion The heft of life…

Mundanity and poetry. No castles burning No favours To wipe away the tears Of vanquished Or victor No huntsmen Howlers Or pirates Nothing to see Everything happens In timely…

Reach out, Touch time Before the night bell Brings internment To an end In a splinter Of forgetfulness A spray of salty tears A swoon of night Dust Kick me down Hard on the heels…

Sound judgement I think. It was me No, it was me We are all Spartacus Creaked the stairs In unison The settling of the house A battle for supremacy Between the old and new Could…

It could be. I think it is Sitting on the sofa Moisturising The curve of her neck The smooth skin, Of a shoulder, Freckle full. It is either her Or the light Falling in from the…

Do I lie Is it worth the asking? There is no poetry in it None to speak of As much as my father’s dead The weight of his hand Is alive I can feel it The flat of it On the side of…

We weep for them Private fears Grave displays Of sorrow The hellion of youth Hedonists and fools The upstarts philanderers And breakers of rules Taking control Faking a belief in…

Are we Mankind The monster? You might say, ‘not me’ Which might be true Of you But who is to say? We are not Always the best judge Of ourselves Bias is contagious Idyls are full…

I have tried But I can’t For the life of me Thank god After all I am not America I have no designs on life Perhaps I did Once, upon a canvas When painting in colour Before the…

There is a leaf on a tree That looks like a Bat Waving at me Wth a stubby finger Not that they have fingers It is a leaf after all. But it does illustrate How much communication…

I have tried But I can’t For the life of me Thank god After all I am not America I have no designs on life Perhaps I did Once, upon a canvas When painting in colour Before the…

Other than that it was a quiet day at home. There is nothing to gain It is a fool's bargain Write a poem And feel better about it Which is never true. Don’t write one Feel worse.…

I’ll text Freya. Tall buildings lean in Hungrily They are ghoulish Tumbling, teetering Mountains Sand blasted valleys. Sweeping arcades Are frozen highlands Brooding with menace…

Tall buildings lean in Hungrily They are ghoulish Tumbling, teetering Mountains Sand blasted valleys. Sweeping arcades Are frozen highlands Brooding with menace There are no goat…

If I am too tired I am too tired There is no shame in it I barely slept The air was as dense As an old mule's fool Thick as mud Heavily layered Turgid with latent Sorrow Woven…

I might get her something tomorrow morning. If I am too tired I am too tired There is no shame in it I barely slept The air was as dense As an old mule's fool Thick as mud Heavily…

Sometimes we live Afraid to die, Or rage With false bravado Facing death. There is no clear path To follow As the light fades, With nobody to thank In the aftermath. Every flower…

Eyes still shine Pearls that were diamonds. China cups droop In trembling hands Old stories drip From smiling Mouths. Receding gums are mandatory The wailing and gnashing Is best…

I am somewhere Anywhere Nowhere It is impossible to know. The scope of my experience May lie just out of reach I am a pit A dirty trench Full of rot and filth Leaking Leaching out…

When you don’t know What to do But you do something Anyway. A bit of this A touch of that. Bite your tongue Whisper a few things Wait for a while, Rush in, Step back. When people…

I wouldn’t know I wouldn’t hear The phone is on silent You can do that now The only time I’ve heard a phone In the middle of the night It has been bad news The call of death There…

Pity this Despite ourselves We breathe It is easy to take it away Too easy, some might say Serpents With venom Constrictors who squeeze The blood Out of a stone Feed the bodies To…

I will keep busy. It is time for bed. I miss you, Kora. The air is thick With suffocation An appetite sated Before dawn Mosquitoes Have eaten the sun Which splutters To defend…

The air is thick With suffocation An appetite sated Before dawn Mosquitoes Have eaten the sun Which splutters To defend itself Until the bottom drops out Of its existence A…

Happy New Year. Wrapped and swaddled Hunched and brooding Hands clasped tightly Around a mug of mulled wine A bed before midnight Asleep as the bells chime There are no phone…

Wrapped and swaddled Hunched and brooding Hands clasped tightly Around a mug of mulled wine A bed before midnight Asleep as the bells chime There are no phone calls None made or…

She would have missed a treat. You stand beneath a bower It tumbles haphazardly, Heavy leaves splintering the sun The shadows dance with envy For the brightness Of angels You are…

You stand beneath a bower It tumbles haphazardly, Heavy leaves splintering the sun The shadows dance with envy For the brightness Of angels You are effortless Uniquely…

Am I become Nothing more than A piece of writing. One of those abstractions Thoughtfully written From the perspective of a lake Lying in wait Deep and inviting Cold and…

Am I become Nothing more than A piece of writing. One of those abstractions Thoughtfully written From the perspective of a lake Lying in wait Deep and inviting Cold and…

It seemed like I should There was time It was the holiday season Christmas came to mind It often does Not always in a good way. We have expectations Of ourselves I fail to meet…

Lovely. It seemed like I should There was time It was the holiday season Christmas came to mind It often does Not always in a good way. We have expectations Of ourselves I fail to…

A confusion of darkness Compelled to stare Into the abyss The empty abstraction Of an unknown room The black maw Of a broken dream Burned out Charcoal embers Luminous clocks With…

It is something When the world makes More sense For those few moments When alcohol or acid Combine to produce A perfect array. A declaration of eureka A blue sky Creating an…

I should take myself off To wander aimlessly Sit on a rock somewhere Gaze at the mountains Falling away, Disappearing over the edge Fading into the sky. Everything becomes nothing…

I should take myself off To wander aimlessly Sit on a rock somewhere Gaze at the mountains Falling away, Disappearing over the edge Fading into the sky. Everything becomes nothing…

We are elegiac. I will know nothing of it Stumbling in the dark The filth of a broken life Loose tongues Looser bowels Cognitive incontinence The blind man’s ditch The last dregs…

Deconstructing Dickens What is it about writing That breeds quotes like ‘I’m a writer If I’m not writing, I’m nothing.’ Which is pretentious Unoriginal Highbrow twaddle Not…

Life is in me And you. Beat it out Feather me flat Loose leafed gold Blown on a sorry wind The clatter of battened windows Against weathered wood The rain, a constant stream An…

Gimmie some truth. Nobody wants it Not really Nobody cares for anything To be confirmed Rationally. Is that all we are Recite me a line Say it is true If I like it I will believe…

I wake up to it Tuneless Shrill and irritating Cutting through me Like a knife Through butter I am sliced and diced Sliding Every-which-way Two halves, less whole Than before the…

Midnight shenanigans They stole out In the heat of night Like boarders At a private school Seeking recreation Crawling out Ducking below the window The Porter snoring, In his…

The completely made up one Or The geriatric one. You pull me up Push me down Offer me a steaming cup It burns my tongue Dribbles down my front I spit it out It hits your face You…

Hunter’s moon If I was the moon I would disappoint. Whatever they do I would not swoon. The worst of them are Empty-headed puppets Falling-down drunks Fighting in dark alleys…

If I was the moon I would disappoint. Whatever they do I would not swoon. The worst of them are Empty-headed puppets Falling-down drunks Fighting in dark alleys Sweating and…

He strolled the foreshore His back to the sun. What there was of the wind Fluttered a flag Hauled up in the front garden Of an old Victorian. A different one each week It was a…

Royal assent He strolled the foreshore His back to the sun. What there was of the wind Fluttered a flag Hauled up in the front garden Of an old Victorian. A different one each…

Necessary and sufficient. We sat together In silence A troubled time The air turbulent Rippling with tension If I had carried one I would have cut it with a knife Not that it…

I said she said. She said ‘Does it ever get lonely up on that cloud?’ I said ‘What?’ She said ‘You know like in that poem By that guy Writing about daffodils and stuff.’ I said…

Sometimes I believe If I close my eyes Everything will cease to be If I made it all up I can make it disappear There is nothing in my philosophy To dissuade me When the truth of…

This is no place for weeping. There is too much here to see The door to hell is waiting I thought I found a key This is no place for the living It is not a place to be No drop of…

The “it’s almost a poem.’ poem. This is no place for weeping. There is too much here to see The door to hell is waiting I thought I found a key This is no place for the living It…

They do say That some people Have never met melancholia Not even briefly. I guess those people do exist Passing through life Exiting with a smile Painted on their faces From a…

Sometimes Sitting in the dark Too broken to switch on a light Wondering at the nuts and bolts Of life Trailing across the floor, Rusted bones creaking In repetitive strain, It is…

Cool for cats. If you find the one Hold on tight I did. She went from here But not from there I see her At the bottom of the glass The end of the bed The corner of the room I know…

If you find the one Hold on tight I did. She went from here But not from there I see her At the bottom of the glass The end of the bed The corner of the room I know you do too I…

I struggle With the concept of Spring in October. Would I have understood Life differently Had I been born On this side of the equator? When all the songs were wrong And it was…

I struggle With the concept of Spring in October. Would I have understood Life differently Had I been born On this side of the equator? When all the songs were wrong And it was…

The wind has an edge. Cutting to the bone Blowing petals from flowers Throwing posies Shocking pink blossom Chasing over the ground Forming fluffy drifts Spinning, in a wild river…

The kitchen is not a safe place For a meltdown It could be a museum To the lost art Of self-care If not for the guilt I would feel If I chose indolence Over activity Sinking to…

Am I possessed The bones of me crack Wracked with a pain That may not be mine The memory of guilt Somebody else’s crime The blasphemy Of alchemy The presence of ghosts A genetic…

Mun Utd versus Tottenham…anything can happen. Hopefully, it will be a 24-hour thing and I’ll be fine tomorrow. Am I possessed The bones of me crack Wracked with a pain That may…

I sit awhile, Drinking coffee Outside a hole in the wall Sheltered from the wind Under an awning. Takeaway cartons Blow along the street Kicked aside by hurried feet Squashed flat…

When things were good The money, a steady stream Work, going well I let off steam Playing jazz in a hangdog dive With low light and low life Who shovelled coke On credit cards…

The Shawl. I touch the fabric Feel the texture between my fingers The weft gently snagging On whorls of skin The wonder of it The tingle of memory A sorrowed veil That even now…

There were no old times Time is not like that There was just before Not now Just then. When everything looked bright The world was new Glass gleamed Sparkled like a toothpaste add…

On days when my eyes Are as heavy as the mood The wind as wild as a lion With toothache Shaking its mane to ease the pain Failing miserably Flailing blindly Bending trees Supple…

Do older people In residential homes Walk out after dark Are the doors locked Flatscreens switched off Horlicks and cocoa Consumed with Mcvities Before lights out In bed by eight…

The moon dips In conversation with the mountain. A sparkle of words Glitters between them A tumbling stream Growing out of their Kiss. A gushing cascade A tangle of bright water…

So much is lost In the jumble Of broken pieces. Every passing day Begins and ends Gazing at the sky The regularity of design, Edges falling away Folding into corners. All…

Give me a first-line I know you want to It is right there Winnowed on a breeze Whispered through a tangle Of Willow trees Conversing Like old friends Along the banks Of an old…

There was dancing Even in the dark With the lights out Forty years ago I would have seen you Beaming golden Streaming through midnight Naked in cool waters Alive with wonder Sex…

It is too easy To feel the guilt Of being here. For getting out of bed Every morning Wishing I was strong enough To say enough is enough Waiting for the sun to shine So I can…

Nobody likes to be told When they are wrong In the case of dead men There is a lack of I told you so More of a wait-and-see. Dead men wear plaid Tell no tales But never fail to be…

Nobody likes to be told When they are wrong In the case of dead men There is a lack of I told you so More of a wait-and-see. Dead men wear plaid Tell no tales But never fail to be…

The Medicare card has still not arrived. Tables and chairs Sit quietly Arranged in groups Of four together Gathered around a table, Benches to the wall. There is something about…

Tables and chairs Sit quietly Arranged in groups Of four together Gathered around a table, Benches to the wall. There is something about them That demands attention A token of…

And then I started. Mistyping a ‘W’ in the middle of then Three times It didn’t stop me From remembering how She thought everything I wrote Was a part of me. Even though it is…

There is nothing Here but the noise Of my brain steaming Like an old train A clock with a busted spring I should have known It would be like this. Every time I watch the rain The…

You loved me For reasons I could never fathom You counted on me I counted on my fingers There was often a recount. Nothing ever adds up To the total Of mistakes we make No matter…

Nevertheless, I wish her well. You loved me For reasons I could never fathom You counted on me I counted on my fingers There was often a recount. Nothing ever adds up To the total…

He has to go. After a catastrophe But before it becomes an apocalypse, When people are Covered in dust and blood Unable to form a coherent sentence For all the world like Extras…

I sit on a green hill Lost in the faraway The back of my mind Playing tricks with its assembly Somewhere in the distance Beyond the horizon Where once upon a time My old self did…

It might be the scotch. Trees are talking Shaking their heads wildly There is disagreement And laughter Leafy banter Moptops shimmer The whole length of Their shapely trunk Down…

From the silence You assume I have nothing to say From my withdrawal I am lonely But like that damn cat Who jumps off the mat To lie next to you On the bed Tickle your nose with…

I love you, Kora. Always. From the silence You assume I have nothing to say. From my withdrawal I am lonely. But like that damn cat Who jumps off the mat To lie next to you On the…

Old Town Blue Skinny old men shuffle, Wishbones rattle Drummers lose the beat Before the chorus Women wear black shawls Over faded veils of skin To cover the loss of something…

Do you sing Happy or sad songs? They can be defining. Even for the moment It takes to recognise The tune Bleating on a stack of tea chests In a sawdust pub Grinding out a ballad…

Mystery tour. Was there dread Already formed among the dead Before an end was reached. The roads would be cluttered, Many a curse would be uttered Along the way. The air is thick…

I must. Mystery tour. Was there dread Already formed among the dead Before an end was reached. The roads would be cluttered, Many a curse would be uttered Along the way. The air…

Euro 24. There is something triumphal About a football win, It's not cricket or tennis. There are pennants and flags Streaming from windows Car horns honk, People cheer and wave…

There is something triumphal About a football win, It's not cricket or tennis. There are pennants and flags Streaming from windows Car horns honk, People cheer and wave “High-five…

My Birthday blues. Render me down Render me good Render my heart Render my blood Render my memory Render my soul Take what is needed Render me whole. Render my ashes Render my…

Birthday blues. Render me down Render me good Render my heart Render my blood Render my memory Render my soul Take what is needed Render me whole. Render my ashes Render my dust…

Just as I think I understand the meaning of reality Something happens to make me wonder. Leather jackets were always a thing, Marlon Brando, Before he was Superman’s dad And…

Life’s illusion. A woman stood by a tree On the other side of the road I don’t know why It struck me as odd Perhaps she was waiting For the mood to take her Far from here, Or a…

I may have woken up I can never be sure. Is that healthy? I guess it is Science needs verification Multiple sources. Even looking in the mirror. Is unhelpful I never recognise…

I may have woken up I can never be sure. Is that healthy? I guess it is Science needs verification Multiple sources. Even looking in the mirror Is unhelpful I never recognise…

After a catastrophe But before it becomes an apocalypse, When people are Covered in dust and blood Unable to form a coherent sentence For all the world like Extras from The…

There is no easy Way to put it Keep looking It will find you As life happens Whether we like it or not It is in the snow that covers your shoes When the car has Nosed into a drift…

There is no easy Way to put it Keep looking It will find you As life happens Whether we like it or not It is in the snow that covers your shoes When the car has Nosed into a drift…

My son died on this date 15 years ago. It was a slow day, She was privileged In a throw-it-all-away “For my life is worth less Than the real world” Kind of way, She was…

It was a slow day, She was privileged In a throw-it-all-away “For my life is worth less Than the real world” Kind of way, She was double-bound Trapped into being Both more and…

When I left school, Mister Jacks The short, round teacher With the blackheads Broken veins Freckles and red-rimmed eyes, His hair as unruly As a prepubescent first-year Before his…

It will take a while. When I left school, Mister Jacks The short, round teacher With the blackheads Broken veins Freckles and red-rimmed eyes, His hair as unruly As a prepubescent…

It is peculiar To be alive, I have no memory of death Or ‘not life’ Whichever is more germane. I do believe It is connected to A ‘truth’ about language And the nature of poetry.…

There is a final demand In the letterbox It’s been in there for a week The electric will be cut Before the next quarter Even as the bombs fall The house is long gone Ash and bone…

There is a final demand In the letterbox It’s been in there for a week The electric will be cut Before the next quarter Even as the bombs fall The house is long gone Ash and bone…

There are nights When the air is so thick With words unsaid I could cut them into small pieces With a knife Feed on their unease Chew on them Taste their essence Savour every…

Should I bend to the critics? The trolls and know-alls? Keep it impersonal Drop romance for cynicism Look at the outer Rather than the inner When the inner lacks True depth. Some…

Should I bend to the critics? The trolls and know-alls? Keep it impersonal Drop romance for cynicism Look at the outer Rather than the inner When the inner lacks True depth. Some…

Everything is expanding The road ahead Longer than expected Shorter by far Than the distance between Two points in time, When the first one is fixed The last one indeterminate. It…

It came to me as I sat Gazing at nothing At everything Seeing the other side of it Once in a while As a cat looked at me hungrily From the fence. ‘Keep sitting there.’ I thought.…

So well done to me. It came to me as I sat Gazing at nothing At everything Seeing the other side of it Once in a while As a cat looked at me hungrily From the fence. ‘Keep sitting…

I cannot remember when Somebody read to me Just to me Yeah Actually to me, For me, alone. Not a teacher Or a classmate Or at a reading Where an author, (not me, obviously) Smirks…

The late one. I cannot remember when Somebody read to me Just to me Yeah Actually to me, For me, alone. Not a teacher Or a classmate Or at a reading Where an author, (not me,…

He never did Lift his head Above the top of the glass On the table in front of him But his eyes were alive With movement Swallowing the room Whole Nobody knew the trouble he saw…

Spiral and spire Never reach the sky They are rooted, Earthbound reminders Of the pursuit of immortality The desire to be more than a footnote Historical archaeology An…

When I stop to think Take a drink Decide to write Why do I bleed Who is it for? Try not to answer It is rhetorical. I have lost count Of the rhymes I chose not to use The number…

I have created little Worthy of the time it took To grow nasal hair I stood in the queue for brains Like everybody else With too much personal space To fill Rotting from the…

I have created little Worthy of the time it took To grow nasal hair I stood in the queue for brains Like everybody else With too much personal space To fill Rotting from the…

Triumphant Jackdaws Steal promises Made of gold Build a home with them Nobody bats an eyelid When the Owl tells its tale With the wisdom of Solomon Only a whisper On the wing As…

Home thoughts flicker, Wave and flow, Streamers of recognition Bands of meaning, Disbelieving, Reasoning and logic. Stirring music Vibrant colours Glowing, pulsing Gyrating,…

Love always waits For somebody, somewhere It might be here Within sight of the briar The heather and gorse The windswept girl On the silver horse, Her father owns a brewery And…

There is beauty here, It is everywhere It is bound in the weave of magic Pulling the earth together over Rivers deep below Where tunnels teem with sightless things Without a need…

They have all heard the stories Those low-hanging leaves Curling at the edges Flirting with death Burnished in russet and gold. On a windless day It is a gentle fall Floating on a…

If he could play the violin As well as he could fiddle He would play it endlessly Whilst he tarries With nothing else to do but wait As the clock ticks time. What big hands it has…

“People go hungry in Africa.” As if eating every last scrap On my plate would make a difference. Perhaps I should Send a food parcel There is always enough guilt To go around To…

I try When I’m dry. I guess we all do In a bittersweet way There is nothing between me And the person in the next room But a wall It is a division we all tolerate. I drink to…

I sat on a bag All night in an airport What a place, I believe it was in Malta. It could have been a dream Maybe a nightmare It felt like it at the time But do you get Policemen…

A newborn sun hides Behind Slick, grey cloud Waiting for the break, The ground A scab of old snow. Green shoots of recovery Peep through dirty drifts Announcing summer with a…

The top shelf. I stand on tiptoes Stretched As taut as a guitar string And snap Into a catastrophe There is no coming back The fall Unending The bottom moves away The darkness…

It was cold Empty as a false promise I shouldn’t have gone What is it about hometowns That brings you back To yourself? Childhood pranks Running with the wild boys The smell of a…

The bed is empty Days begin with a stumble Realisation is a gun to the head Before coffee Kickstarts the blood rush Caffeine, a substitute For companionship Shadows on the floor…

Death by Shower. Part one. I can hear mice in the walls The scratch of a spider On the skirting board Trying to flatten itself against the wood The drip of a tap The crackle of…

I have never seen the sky It was never really there It didn’t stay still For long enough Swirling with activity Moving around Changing my perspective The moon is a chameleon…

I know it is in there I can hear it At night In the dark When I’m alone And forced to listen The voice an insistent whisper Addictively alluring But it is painful To be wretched…

A Morphine glazed Blank space Where once there was a worldview Lachrymose pink Is the only flower in the garden What of the husband With curly hair The children with dimples And…

The smell of the dressing table Essential oils, mysterious Spices from the Orient Gold, Francensence and Myrrh A hint of Channel Paris and romance. I drift onto the left bank To…

So you refuse to believe In death Denying mortality Every time you walk into a room Full of rotting corpses The bones of you Chilled Distilled Into a paper cup Checked for any…

Even now I sit out in the cold My toes exposed Doing a crossword Writing a line Spending time Turning blue It reminds me Of going to the beach As a kid The whole village Together…

I guess he was wrong, Gil Scott-Heron, As everything is televised nowadays. Of a guy stabbing somebody On a train A passenger caught the act on a phone It was horrifying The…

Is it just me? When I could be talking To T S Eliot instead of Trying to get back to sleep. A dream I was having Like all the other ones When I can’t find the people I love. I…

Kerouac wears a pac-a-mac. At the time I didn’t think But looking back It was more likely I looked like a sex pest In my dad’s old trenchcoat Not a gangster Or a cool dude exuding…

Eventually There is forgetting It is a high price to pay The heart beats dry Bloodless veins Winnow like chaff Arteries devoid of life The gleam of fleshless bones A relentless…

Eventually There is forgetting. It is a high price to pay. The heart beats dry Bloodless veins Winnow like chaff Arteries devoid of life The gleam of fleshless bones A relentless…

Plane trees Throw their unwanted leaves Playfully Slapping people around the head Using the wind as an intermediary Taking advantage of its generosity Of spirit, Never at a loss…

I stand atop a high cliff Gazing out to sea Dreaming of faraway places Anywhere but here Missing nothing Until it’s gone, The flesh hangs off the bone The eyes grow milky As grey…

God but I miss her. I stand atop a high cliff Gazing out to sea Dreaming of faraway places Anywhere but here Missing nothing Until it’s gone, The flesh hangs off the bone The eyes…

If I have no stick I shall find one. Am I so empty As to believe suffering Is an essential accompaniment To artistic accomplishment The toll of the sleepless. The demons of guilt…

To lie beneath the tall trees Burnished in gold Shimmered in sunbeams Every leaf a story Waiting to be written Whispered through the forest In their falling Glimmered in rime Come…

There are no gasometres Not like at the Oval In London Heritage listed For their iconic status Across the cricketing world. Perhaps all would be better If it was A cricketing…

I looked across the rooftops At the city The spires and office blocks Apartment buildings People with heads in the clouds The entrepreneurs' Hedgefund managers with portfolios…

She was a leatherback He had alligator skin They drank gin Like snake oil In the corner Gazing out at the room With a hunger Afraid of my fate If they reeled me in Some called it…

So many things You wish you hadn’t said Nothing addles the brain More than this There are no scholars Who can tell you how to unsay What has been dispatched Words are for all time…

How many days do you want? Do you need? So many women, fighting off Fat-faced, beer-bellied men Who believe they were Marlon Brando In another life. Perhaps they were But only…

How many days do you want? Do you need? So many women, fighting off Fat-faced, beer-bellied men Who believe they were Marlon Brando In another life. Perhaps they were But only…

I began to hang out With Jack When Mac became An expensive date Jim was lighter On the pocket But is a bit of a sour puss You know where you are With Jack He is kind of…

I began to hang out With Jack When Mac became An expensive date Jim was lighter On the pocket But is a bit of a sour puss You know where you are With Jack He is kind of…

Darkness has mass A sinewy texture Curling into the deep Seeping between the cracks Discolouring skin held together By the elastic stretch Of living things That can look As smooth…

Darkness has mass A sinewy texture Curling into the deep Seeping between the cracks Discolouring skin held together By the elastic stretch Of living things That can look As smooth…

Even as my head droops low Nobody would know If I was sleeping Or deep in thought Dark glasses are a boon In such circumstance Just as the poetry of Auden Plays well with this…

It would have been my dad’s birthday today. Happy Birthday, Dad. It was probably a good day. It was good to see Jo briefly… There is more to a rose Than its thorns The colour of…

There is more to a rose Than its thorns The colour of the flowers The spread of its leaves It bears the burden well An imperial face In a hedgerow. Wherever I go I know the way…

All flowers die Fallow deer bite off their heads Blundering children Flatten them In a madcap frenzy Unmoved by the solemnity Of the walking dead Heads bowed In silent evocation…

All flowers die Fallow deer bite off their heads Blundering children Flatten them In a madcap frenzy Unmoved by the solemnity Of the walking dead Heads bowed In silent evocation…

I worry I will lose her In the ‘putting away’ The packing and moving From one place to another. The pairing down As expectations change As other people move on Lost lovers cling…

I worry I will lose her In the ‘putting away’ The packing and moving From one place to another. The pairing down As expectations change As other people move on Lost lovers cling…

How still sits the Captain? His ship so long departed Wistful thoughts follow The same course. He once did sail In masterful control Of his decisions If not the outcome. A lively…

Eliot rode his hobby horse On a Sunday I love the guy But really Why is it always the cat? I guess he loved poetic language As do I It can be sublime Especially When used in…

Eliot rode his hobby horse On a Sunday I love the guy But really Why is it always the cat? I guess he loved poetic language As do I It can be sublime Especially When used in…

Did you ever find the one? When you do You will know And will stop looking Perhaps not immediately Although you should, Most do. Some habits can be hard to break Like smoking Or…

However clear the light The night ahead is shrouded. Darkness draws closer By the second, Questions of insight Delusions of endurance The accident of bravery. Imperfect spirits…

Children played in the street As if there was no future The sun shrugged Shining briefly In its struggle To shake off the clouds That crept over the sky With wicked intent. On the…

How little we know Or care When all but The best of us struggle With the day-to-day. There is Barely time enough to breathe Deeply The words of forgotten poets Dramatists and…

It was me No, it was me We are all Spartacus Creaked the stairs In unison The settling of the house A battle for supremacy Between the old and new Could never have been More clear…

Take it back Call it in Bring an end to it Pull the plug Wrap it up Tie it in knots Weigh it down Fill your boots With concrete Let them sink Deep down Into the deep It is nothing…

No regrets We weep for them Private fears Grave displays Of sorrow The hellion of youth Hedonists and fools The upstarts philanderers And breakers of rules Taking control Faking a…

Some people are sclerotic They sit as still as the dummies In shop windows For hours All wrapped up and Overdressed if you ask me The heat rises off them. Mouldy pants vapourise…

Some people are sclerotic They sit as still as the dummies In shop windows For hours All wrapped up and Overdressed if you ask me The heat rises off them. Mouldy pants vapourise…

There is a leaf on a tree That looks like a Bat Waving at me With a stubby finger Not that they have fingers It is a leaf after all. But it does illustrate How much communication…

There is nothing to gain It is a fool's bargain Write a poem And feel better about it Which is never true. Don’t write one Feel worse. There is no escape in verse It is a rat trap…

Everything is dampened By rain Everyday sound is drowned Muted and muffled The pounding of every drop On tin roofs Every single fall Ending in a heavy slap On a wooden deck, A…

Everything is dampened By rain Everyday sound is drowned Muted and muffled The pounding of every drop On tin roofs Every single fall Ending in a heavy slap On a wooden deck, A…

Is it true what they say Is it only true some of the time Does it depend on the truth Does it fit with our beliefs Who will it benefit? You don’t have to take a life Before you…

I seem to have lost the poem I was going to post So instead I will post this Is it true what they say Is it only true some of the time Does it depend on the truth Does it fit with…

Residual lives Eyes still shine Pearls that were diamonds. China cups droop In trembling hands Old stories drip From smiling Mouths. Receding gums are mandatory The wailing and…

Moving day. I am outside but will be in the way at some point. I rarely stop when walking It is about the pace The heart rate The value of exercise To my constitution I glance Nod…

I rarely stop when walking It is about the pace The heart rate The value of exercise To my constitution I glance Nod Smile, It is all in the eyes, Appreciate the colour of the sky…

The trouble with writing Every day Is I forget what I write I can’t hold it in mind From one poem to the next. I worry that I might Keep writing the same thing Over and over again…

When you don’t know What to do But you do something Anyway. A bit of this A touch of that. Bite your tongue Whisper a few things Wait for a while, Rush in, Step back. When people…

Party animals There is order Even in the random Roll of thunder Peeling across a steel grey sky The frantic caw of a crow Calling its mate home Before the onset of a storm The…

Factoid. Sometimes So many things seem to Happen at once Their progression Squashed and lacking In discretion Before and After Forgotten The whys and wherefores Unremembered, Just…

Sometimes So many things seem to Happen at once Their progression Squashed and lacking In discretion Before and After Forgotten The whys and wherefores Unremembered, Just the…

And they stand Thigh deep in the flow, Weathered in waders. Sporting caps With badges and hooks Covered in cleverly crafted lures So much more than decoration Even the flies look…

An Oz-fest Christmas. Just before midnight The air is liquified Brains are flash-fried The heat is never-ending The honchos in black Open-necked suits Awash with sweat Cavorting…

I will play my drums in a little while and then have lunch. I miss Kora…and Reuben. An Oz-fest Christmas. Just before midnight The air is liquified Brains are flash-fried The heat…

Why are they so sharp? Pebbles thrown up On the beach At the shoreline I wobble Lifting a foot To see a trickle of blood And wish I had stayed Sitting on the deckchair As it was…

The old house At the end of the lane, Over the wooden stile Before the bridge, On this side Of the river, Always looked good In the setting sun. Layers of dust Sparkle like gold,…

With a nod to Frost. I stand before a frosted wall As cold as ice to my Light fingered touch Afraid the skin might stick And wonder, How would anybody know If it was made of stars…

With a nod to Frost. I stand before a frosted wall As cold as ice to my Light fingered touch Afraid the skin might stick And wonder, How would anybody know If it was made of stars…

How wrong we were Some might say that we still are “Let them fight it out.” They would say Parents, friends and enemies alike Standing in a circle As archetypes play Handbags at…

Does everybody worry about Being a psychopath When impure thoughts Overtake the rational process And the waffling of an estate agent With a cheap suit Toothpaste smile And Calvin…

And they cheer At the football on the big screen, Aussie rules, Nobody else plays it. Why do people get so hung up On minority sports? American football What is that about?…

And they cheer At the football on the big screen, Aussie rules, Nobody else plays it. Why do people get so hung up On minority sports? American football What is that about?…

Through the fly screen Or was it the cleaner? Anyway it was enormous It looked a little dazed It probably didn’t expect the lights To be so bright. The brown cockroaches I…

As long as she is alright. Even now Sitting out here waiting for the rain With an oversized fan blowing cool air Over me The humidity, so high I think if I were a Dolphin I would…

Even now Sitting out here waiting for the rain With an oversized fan blowing cool air Over me The humidity, so high If I were a Dolphin I would swim To survive Until I remember…

My energy has drained away, Little beads of it Rolling right off my skin, I am left feeling Wan and weak There is a word for it But the access to my brain Has been denied The…

Salty dogs stagger Through unlit streets, Heavily bowed Chippendale legs Dancing to a different tune More suited to a heavy swell Than a confrontation With a Royal flush. Mild and…

The laboured slump Into dotage Is not a disease But an encumbrance. When a body is locked out Not in Without a key Unable to walk or talk Paraplegic Quadriplegic Incontinent…

The laboured slump Into dotage Is not a disease But an encumbrance. When a body is locked out Not in Without a key Unable to walk or talk Paraplegic Quadriplegic Incontinent…

The day is drab, Wet with rain Even as The deck seems to float In a shimmer of heat Held earthbound By a cowl Of deeply dark cloud The expanse Unsettling Without a crow to craw…

It is easy, Without reference To anything but the arc Of sky to sea The moon full Big and fat A yellow eye, To the west of Katmandu, Or at least Low enough in the sky For me to…

There are days When I could carry her home Lay her down Beneath a tall tree Sing a love song With the Blackbird Accompanied by a chorus Of Cicadas on percussion. A whispering wind…

Halloween be thy name. From deep in the heartland The Bible-belt The puritanical shaker Maker Where witches were burned, Pagans hung, The worst of them castrated, Druids confined…

From deep in the heartland The Bible-belt The puritanical shaker Maker Where witches were burned, Pagans hung, The worst of them castrated, Druids confined to Arthurian Legend,…

Before emancipation Was forced upon men When equality was an ideal Nobody lived up to Prejudice was a badge of honour Diversity was having a choice Of which tie to wear To the…

It is an easy thing To make an excuse The sun is too hot The sky too high Every time you sit down To think Workmen start to drill Bang and shout The songs on the radio Are not…

It is an easy thing To make an excuse The sun is too hot The sky too high Every time you sit down To think Workmen start to drill Bang and shout The songs on the radio Are not…

Did I know, When rolling in the hay, Tumbling in thrall to hysteria Finding the truth of lust In breathless coupling Scratched by briars When the stars were bright The blood as…

I am a wuss. Hysteria It is wrong to call her crazed But she was distraught At what life had wrought upon her. The weft of uncertainty The knitted brows Of the doctor The needle,…

Hysteria It is wrong to call her crazed But she was distraught At what life had wrought upon her. The weft of uncertainty The knitted brows Of the doctor The needle, sharp in her…

I watch somebody, Not you Pot and prune An overgrown bell-bottom palm Splitting the plastic pot A wormy mass of white roots Suffering constriction Begging to be free It was earthy…

I also bought a broom and a bigger watering can… Another day without phoning Medicare. It’s a lifestyle thing so who cares…just get it done. Is there a moment in life When it is…

Is there a moment in life When it is possible to say “Ah yes, I get it now.” Does it happen I guess it must At least once The truth of it The dawning of realisation The falling…

We were Children Rolling in dirt, There was a time when grass stains Were the end for a white shirt, Hiding in a briar patch Pretending to be dead, Was it all a game Or…

Outside Hidden from the main road Behind the factory Where the old machines Extruders and braiders Spinners and twinners Lie like beached whales Rusted bolts as bulbous as…

I would shout, Scream in fear, Kicking out at an invisible attacker. She would shake me awake We would lie in each other's arms Until we fell. It was an everyday thing Perhaps I…

London Town Is it mine? I was not to the manor born But have lived within its confine For so very long Beauty and filth go hand in hand The turrets and spires Cathedrals of…

I was there Drawn back across the years To the birthing place The formative experience The youthful embrace Discovering sex Underarm hair Deodorant Finding love and heartbreak Go…

Foot all tomorrow though. I was there Drawn back across the years To the birthing place The formative experience The youthful embrace Discovering sex Underarm hair Deodorant…

There was a time I thought there might be golf I would spend time on the greens Walking, talking, driving with an iron Or some such thing A niblick comes to mind Although from…

It will give you cancer So they say Smiling White rictus grins Toothpaste teeth An orthodontic delight An insurers dream Here Take some cream Slap it on Then sit for a while…

Grieve silently He does hear it In the release of tension From a clock spring As it slowly unwinds The ticking is remorseless Waiting for it to stop Is as stressful As the jiggle…

Alvington Crescent. Once there were housemaids Trapped in basement kitchens Rattling their bones Over a hot stove Cooking breakfast For the family above Who would still be abed…

Haway the lads. Alvington Crescent. Once there were housemaids Trapped in basement kitchens Rattling their bones Over a hot stove Cooking breakfast For the family above Who would…

The Riptide. I can be forgiven For trying to stay young Without surgery Uplifts, nips or tucks Of course. Just doing the same things I have always done Bouncing like a jumping…

Am I now he? The man who waits for thee Rhyming man Old man Lost man Man of the high country Lowlands Badlands Walking all alone Eyes fixed on a distant point Is that where you…

Somebody nail him to a tree Hang him up Be a wanted poster For a lost cat Or dog Whatever you choose To see There is nothing romantic About it Veins bleed out Regardless of the…

I toss salad Healthily green Toasted pine nuts To add bite to the Pesto Quaffing Shiraz from a wide-bottomed glass With a slender stem. I remember VP Sherry From Threshers Drunk…

Is it any less romantic? If it ever was. I find writers tend to over-dramatise Their own experience. Sitting by a window using an old typewriter Adjusting the ribbon Bashing the…

It isn’t the weather Or the lack of, How stupid. Whatever it is Nothing remains of yesterday Or beckons like a beacon On a green hill Above a rocky shore So many more before me…

A ‘not sure about this rhymin’ poem. It eases all your troubles Forgives all the lies Welcomes all the sinners Stands by your side Brightens every shadow Fuels the morning sun…

There was a woman She did wait for me Standing in a crowd Of people watching the world Unfold On a fine day As a big ship sailed by Beating through an oily swell. The foam-flecked…

Having curly hair In the sixties, Before Jimi Hendrix came over From America to set fire To his guitar and play Sunshine of your love Over Lulu’s end-of-show song On Saturday…

The Cruise I would hate it, The confinement Of a cruise. Wrapped up in a blanket On a promenade deck Watching the horizon As ageing lotharios Dinosaurs And nere-do-wells pass by…

Boarding house There is a vacancy It lies behind the eyes Which seem to stare into space Over the top of the glass The head tilted back The mouth wide Almost as if the top half Of…

What would you have me say? Happiness is an illusion Love is more than passion Life no more than love? We tore a sheet to shreds One night In a frenzy It lives long in the memory.…

As the Cuckoo Throws out another egg The Lion eats his young, Banishes its rivals After a fight, Even his own son, And is promiscuous. The Stag ruts To establish primacy Chimps…

I worry about the words I don’t use. Those ignored Erased Wiped off the page Brushed away from the paper Shaken from the ends of my fingers Kicked under the bed Left to gather…

She looked it over Although the verse was nice It was a little sad. As if sadness was a disease To be avoided Like the plague or bad breath. I suggested the madness In believing…

Eyes half closed For fear, the truth would enter. The sun as high as a kite At full stretch A solstice in midsummer. We leaned Mutually exclusive In balance Holding the world…

Thom was a smart guy Dedicating his life To reconstructive surgery Giving it all back For being so lucky He washed his hands vigorously. We talked As the hot tap ran About times…

I see you walk by Lost in thought There is steam on the window The coffee tastes better On the inside So many people in the world Tell different stories About the same view. We…

Reflective dysmorphia You fuss and primp Believing is never enough The satisfaction Never quite reciprocated As the years slip by It is never the right time. Hat stands are not…

It is everywhere. I hear it in the call of a crow Atop a tall tree Claiming it as a free state Woe-betide usurpers. The bark of a dog Tethered in the backyard With no water In its…

There is always forgetting To hinder the truthteller, The intention of well-meaning As self-interest trumps ethics. Nobody questions a barefaced lie Delivered by an honest face…

Outside a small Bistro in Camden Lock Wondering how it was That despite myself I had survived Without the need for a lesson In life As a lapsed adult Aspiring to sobriety, When…

Happy birthday my love wherever you are x Apologies to Wordsworth. Alone or not, My mind wanders, The clouds march Or drift by, Slowly Dependent on the wind For their right of…

Apologies to Wordsworth. Alone or not, My mind wanders, The clouds march Or drift by, Slowly Dependent on the wind For their right of way. The higher cirrus clouds Are heavy with…

There is no need, Whatever you think you know You don’t. A young woman In a red dress Taps her foot Swaying a little, Moving in time To the music in my ears It is a coincidence.…

There are always guys Who will tell you How well they’ve done How many people they know Who can be relied upon To do them a favour. Every time life is good They get a knife and…

They rarely made me cry There was too much Laughter To allow for that. Listening to Miles Davis Over a glass of wine, Sipping slowly As there would be plenty of time Before the…

They rarely made me cry There was too much Laughter To allow for that. Listening to Miles Davis Over a glass of wine, Sipping slowly As there would be plenty of time Before the…

There is no impropriety In acceptance of one's mortality It is a natural evolution. Perhaps I will feel better for it Rather than harking back To the past as if it was a real…

We begin, Loved and cherished Cossetted Snuggled Engaged In potty training Re-usable nappies Baby chairs Walking frames Trikes Bikes with stabilisers Skates, scooters and…

Today is my birthday Way back, When I was still young enough To think about the future Over a glass of scotch I remember killing a cockroach Walking across the table, He had…

I look to the stars As many have, The moon, a teardrop Begs forgiveness For its chastisement Of the sea Pulling it to and fro I see no comfort in any of it. There is a hollow in…

There is no denying The flesh and bones of it. Avoiding mirrors Other than a brief glance Which adds little to belief Or self-determination, Is no respite. The temptation To walk…

There is no denying The flesh and bones of it. Avoiding mirrors Other than a brief glance Which adds little to belief Or self-determination, Is no respite. The temptation To walk…

Zoe is still struggling with being out of work. Waiting… Sitting on sand Counting grains Ticking off the time It takes to build a castle. Standing in the ocean An island In a body…

Waiting… Sitting on sand Counting grains Ticking off the time It takes to build a castle. Standing in the ocean An island In a body of water As the wind blows. Its presence…

I try to avoid looking, Especially at younger women. There is always the chance they will Punch me out There was a time When they would follow me home. Seriously. I’m not sure I…

I try to avoid looking, Especially at younger women. There is always the chance they will Punch me out There was a time When they would follow me home. Seriously. I’m not sure I…

Time will come Perhaps not for me But for somebody Somewhere. The Willow tapping Morse code on the window pane Seems to know more about it than I do But all the hours spent Trying…

The road ahead sweeps with The flow of glacial ice The ground smoothed By an ancient hand With little regard For eroticism The architecture of buildings A tumble of old stone…

The wind whispers an apology Nothing it hasn’t said already Whatever promises made today Will be broken tomorrow It is in its nature to blow Every which way. Whatever else would…

In those old red brick houses The terraced ones Back to back Jammed-up, close together Cheek by jowl, There was never enough room For a front garden. The front door opened And…

He can still catch a fly Take it cleanly out of the sky Cup it in his hand. Squish. He doesn’t worry about Karma Well, not too much, When it is the nature of apex Behaviour to…

He can still catch a fly Take it cleanly out of the sky Cup it in his hand. Squish. He doesn’t worry about Karma Well, not too much, When it is the nature of apex Behaviour to…

He was confused enough To get lost carrying the ash Out to the bin But nobody does that now. His mind wanders Always in a spin Turning around again and again Looking for a way out…

Sometimes there is nothing The silence is grotesque Even the shadows speak in tongues. I can hear them whispering In corners Lighting broken cigarettes One after the other As if…

After percolating up Through stone and earth Gravity pulls it ever down. Bubbling, foaming Gaining interest As it tumbles Flatulent Salmon Jump it Struggling to find a mate Before…

I miss you, Kora. But no pressure… After percolating up Through stone and earth Gravity pulls it ever down. Bubbling, foaming Gaining interest As it tumbles Flatulent Salmon Jump…

He ran headlong Down uncarpeted stairs Jumping from the third step Rolling like a paratrooper Running out into the street Before the shout To pull a jumper over his head Knowing…

Sometimes upon entering, With the room a little dark The blinds pulled down To keep out the heat of the sun A single beam traversing the Empty space Like a searchlight Bathing the…

There is nothing to commend it There are no manuals, Self-help books Make good doorstops. The only people who know how To respond to a crisis Are professionals At life And the…

The flowers hit the bin Red Carnations Were not Roses They were not the same Their love might be affectionate But not endless There was anger and resentment She had thought that…

She painted in the abstract Portrayed a world Of her own design Floating in daydreams. Butterflies Followed her around She held them in her hands Waiting until they Flew out into…

It does not know Nor does it care. When it comes calling It takes whomever it will It is a mercenary With no allegiance It does its work without favour Whatever it gains Is lost…

It does not know Nor does it care. When it comes calling It takes whomever it will It is a mercenary With no allegiance It does its work without favour Whatever it gains Is lost…

Hot Sunday traffic Dystopian trucks Oversized rollers Blue smoke billowing Pedestrians are as endangered As the environment Blow by blow The accounts are read First hand There are…

He was tired of reading, The book lay unopened on his lap As his head bobbed. Resting his eyes Which is what his dad used to say When he had nothing to do But wait. There was…

There is no excusing Hatred Bigotry is ignorance A work in progress Hatred is a poison A dagger to the heart It corrupts all intentions Murdering the soul. I don’t take orders My…

There is no excusing Hatred Bigotry is ignorance A work in progress Hatred is a poison A dagger to the heart It corrupts all intentions Murdering the soul. I don’t take orders My…

“There is something about a ‘know it all’ Blustering about molecules and atoms Talking at breakneck speed Afraid to stop Just in case their wisdom is questioned Cautioning about…

Memories make us Their loss brings death In life Nobody wants that Tolerance levels are lower For the incontinent incompetent Struggling for recall Plucking memories out of a…

Religiously, Even those who don’t, Do, Heads bowed eyes closed Lips moving Hoping for the best In a cruel world Hot blooded boys Slowly cooled. Incremental changes Barely…

Sunlight rolls over red hills Burning the edges of buildings Setting trees on fire. Holding up a hand To shield my eyes I am caught in its shadow. The light of it burns Through my…

The Battle for Trafalgar and a Portrait by Van Eyck Children sit on big cats Cast as Buccaneers or Pirates Dependent on your grasp of history Proud parents Capture the moment…

Kora died on this day in 2016. For her. I would tell you if I could, Whisper in your ear Have a conversation To ease the silence Unburden the sorrow. In lights turned low A nurse…

Debbie Willis did but then again she is a delight. I would tell you if I could, Whisper in your ear Have a conversation To ease the silence Unburden the sorrow. In lights turned…

There is still a line Drawn deeply in the sand A dirt-hard edge to the meeting Of land and sea Coal dust ingrained From before the changing times When hoppers Carried dust and…

My son would have been 45 years old today and I was undecided about writing anything at all. In the end, I decided to write this: Once there was a boy Who took the beach home In a…

Is there a place Where my heart lies Where I can go when the time comes I thought it was to be here With you The streets of London So familiar Even in dreams The jumble of it,…

Drifting In thrall to the flow of things The ebb of low tide Exposing its underbelly The stink of rotting weed The tangle of Mangrove Evil insects with little time To press their…

This morning is no different To the one that went before I reach out my hand to touch Your face on the pillow Tracing the line of your features In the contours of the fabric. I…

This morning is no different To the one that went before I reach out my hand to touch Your face on the pillow Tracing the line of your features In the contours of the fabric. I…

So much of love Lies bleeding Upon a bed of Roses Fallen from a tree. We stood by a window At the top of a staircase Overlooking a colonnade Of crumbled masonry Overgrown with…

Strange days indeed. So endeth the rant. I will have to tell her the next time I go in. There is no disgrace It is part of the design Once upon a time, I was a poet and painter A…

There is no disgrace It is part of the design Once upon a time, I was a poet and painter A cabinet maker With never a screw left over To hide beneath a rug. A welcome addition A…

So many cowboys Work the buildings Undiscovered philanthropists Pouring concrete, pebble dashing Dreaming of Pollock. There are Wannabee painters, Sculptors Actors, wearing blue…

Good Friday. I’ll get over it. She hasn’t replied…it was the truth. Not the best of days then. Mr Godfrey was a dentist His teeth were crooked and yellow I wondered at that What…

The Dentist’s chair. Mr Godfrey was a dentist His teeth were crooked and yellow I wondered at that What prevented him from benefiting From good oral hygiene Was he as frightened…

The campsite. I pitched the tent in darkness Rain sliding down my neck, Slipping on the wet grass Fumbling for pegs and hammer Torch succumbing To bad weather. The sky clearing…

I opened the door to a stranger Wondering at his appearance, Who was more confused? We were all boxed up Repackaged, wrapped up separately Divided into sections Placed side by…

I fear what is lost What has gone Never to return The cost of suffering The emptiness of grief Laying waste to a world Of hope and glory I fear what is left The shadow of loss The…

I fear what is lost What has gone Never to return The cost of suffering The emptiness of grief Laying waste to a world Of hope and glory I fear what is left The shadow of loss The…

The house isn’t the best but it is a lovely view. In pre-Raphelite days Before the advent of individuality When there were Wooden ships and galley slaves And everyone was a loin…

There is no romance in it No love in the need of a bad boy A fascist, a brute With the hand on the breast The clamp on your throat. The familiar Stamp of a hobnail boot Striking…

Ars longa vita brevis. There is only this moment You know, This…no that one Just gone Never to return. You think you are waiting for the next minute To come along When you are not…

There are too many lotus eaters Riding a wave of forgetfulness Undemanding, acquiescent Content to remain yoked The stench of their necrotic souls Soaked in the shadow Of apathy…

The apartment building There is always a giveaway. The smell of old-age The filter of coffee and boiled cabbage The aroma of lavender, The headiness of Chanel Oozing out of an…

How easy it is, The turning away The tolerance of hate. A boat going down With all hands The sorrow of its loss Drowned in recrimination Refugees and immigration Forgetting the…

When did we get to be cases, Clients, patients Units, numbers, statistics Faceless Why do we dance to an algorithm Be satisfied with an applied Formula To establish optimum…

The assembly hall This might be small beer But it is a big night out for many. A fifty-fifty The old dears in their twin set and pearls The young girls in short skirts Cut to…

Is it enough, This birth to death With no return. Even as we live and love The slow monotony Of movement The impartiality of space The ponderous decline Of the human race. The…

Is it enough, This birth to death With no return. Even as we live and love The slow monotony Of movement The impartiality of space The ponderous decline Of the human race. The…

He found peace in darkness Gazing out from the backdrop Of an unlit room Watching clouds as shadows Chase across a vaulted ceiling. Where do they go When the end comes As it most…

He found peace in darkness Gazing out from the backdrop Of an unlit room Watching clouds as shadows Chase across a vaulted ceiling. Where do they go When the end comes As it most…

To look upon the fire Gaze into the flame Mesmerised by the exotica Of its dance The writhing pillars, Flicking tongues Lost in a reverie of otherliness When there was music,…

Natural caverns Have stalactites Meeting stalagmites In slow motion. Places full of magic, Potions and witches. Tourists laugh nervously When the lights go out. There is rarely…

Rabbit rabbit rabbit…and no returns. Natural caverns Have stalactites Meeting stalagmites In slow motion. Places full of magic, Potions and witches. Tourists laugh nervously When…

Only the lonely, Seeking to escape The yellow light Hanging in the windows of the sickly, Every town has them Hiding in a bedroom Reading under the cover of darkness Old sheets…

I have wandered, Through familiar places Barely registering the passage of strangers Spiders gaze down from above Socially distanced Conducting webinars among the trees Which…

If you let me drown in a teaspoon Or choke on my toast It would be incongruous To say the least But it is possible One day when I’m helpless I will need to be released. Will you…

There is always something To rattle the cage Tell me, What is it this time? Are you too tall or too small Do you have a limp Do you wear contact lenses Unscrew your leg from its…

There is always something To rattle the cage Tell me, What is it this time? Are you too tall or too small Do you have a limp Do you wear contact lenses Unscrew your leg from its…

There was a time When I did look for god Some people said they had seen him As he was everywhere I wondered about that It would have been easy to pretend But all I saw was a…

He would work the whetstone, There was an art to it Keeping old cutting tools as keen As mustard As grandad used to say When he was still toting a tot of rum In a hipflask To perk…

He would work the whetstone, There was an art to it Keeping old cutting tools as keen As mustard As Grandad used to say When he was still toting a tot of rum In a hipflask To perk…

Morpheus in pyjamas Whisper me your fears I collect fevered stories Tell me your nightmares I am an angel of mercy Ready to lift you out of turmoil Not out of sympathy…

Morpheus in pyjamas Whisper me your fears I collect fevered stories Tell me your nightmares I am an angel of mercy Ready to lift you out of turmoil Not out of sympathy…

Familiar fingertips Lightly brushing Soft lips barely touching Conversation gushing Endlessly Red blood pumping Loudly in my ears Heart rate elevated, higher Than it has a right…

Part 1 (a bit trite) Familiar fingertips Lightly brushing Soft lips barely touching Conversation gushing Endlessly Red blood pumping Loudly in my ears Heart rate elevated, higher…

It is hot enough to melt hearts Toughened by loss and broken promises River water stands still Too tired to be stirred, Mud unfiltered Clings to the banks, turgid, storied,…

Do Nightingales still sing In Berkeley Square It has been a long time since I stopped To listen. There are none in Australia There are songbirds with a tuneful Rejoinder to the…

There were tulips From Amsterdam But I would have preferred roses. But they were in short supply An energy crisis. There once was a futures market in tulips, One bulb could be…

He ran so far, Further in his mind Than in actual fact But it seemed such a long way Across the farm To the farthest fields. He remembered them in childish dreams So far from…

White rabbits…and no returns… I wished her well in a text. He ran so far, Further in his mind Than in actual fact But it seemed such a long way Across the farm To the farthest…

Am I not the person I once was How can this not be How could it be different When what I see is me My eyes behold all I have become Nothing can replace The beating of my heart The…

Sometimes I am drawn There is a moment of coalescence When reminiscence Is triggered, Something magical Created from the ephemeral. The smell of wisteria The overhang of flowers A…

It doesn’t get any easier than this. The image Reflected in a mirror I really am a lefty It looks odd So different to others Am I sinister Someone to be feared Revered. My teacher…

The image Reflected in a mirror I really am a lefty It looks odd So different to others Am I sinister Someone to be feared Revered. My teacher thought me so I remember the slice…

The last candle gasps Guttering out On the waxy copper pan Shadows play in senseless proportion Against a bedroom wall The high-pitched call of a flying fox As unsettling An…

Psychotics wearing romper suits We have come so very far In a few short years Commoditising childhood Creating little consumers Who can be crushed When they don’t keep up with…

Psychotics wear romper suits We have come so very far In a few short years Commoditising childhood Creating little consumers Who can be crushed When they don’t keep up with…

It is all too easy to lay the blame For the crime on her. The lusty looks From drunken youths The animal response The base instincts So easily stirred. The temptation is too great…

I thought I heard you crying, It was dark The landing, half-lit By a deathly pale moon Plainly hung, framed like Vincent Silvery sprinkles scattered Across the sky Sprayed like…

We always sent postcards, Hunted them down Chose them, especially Whether they were for Aunty Jean Or Uncle John Some were straight-laced Panoramic views Whilst others were quite…

It is possible, I can see things clearly Even for a short time A telescopic view Enlarging my heart For the fight or flight The inversion Reducing my connection To reality What a…

I hold a pool of liquor In my hand If I jump in I may well drown But I’ve always been a swimmer The choice is mine The wind can sing a song The ancient wailing voice Wild as any…

Happy New Year. I am up now to watch the Arsenal versus Fulham game. The first day of another year. There is order Even in the random Roll of thunder Peeling across a steel grey…

There are some very strange fish Swimming in the shallows Lurking in the deep Hiding in darkened caves Waiting to pounce On tiddlers With separation anxiety. Some pack a mighty…

Everyone believes they Will not cope, How it feels to bear pain Is beyond their scope When the time comes They will be found lacking The look in the eyes of a child When the…

If we had never met, Never kissed or laughed together Huddled in the rain Soaked through to the skin The steam rising in the drying Bathed in the light From a halogen lamp In a…

There is hardship In old communities Smallholdings built into the lie Of the land Sinking in poverty A refuge for hermits Who always look kindly on paper But prefer to be left on…

The backpacker. Even as you sit gazing at stars The heat of the day barely over The stink of sweat and unwashed bodies Drifting up from the sidewalk The sound of drunken laughter…

The backpacker. Even as you sit gazing at stars The heat of the day barely over The stink of sweat and unwashed bodies Drifting up from the sidewalk The sound of drunken laughter…

A window uncovered Exposed to the night A darkened tunnel Reaching to the sky Where a billion stars fly Higher and higher Pulling further away With every passing day But for light…

A window uncovered Exposed to the night A darkened tunnel Reaching to the sky Where a billion stars fly Higher and higher Pulling further away With every passing day But for light…

Firelight sparkles Through Waterford, Crystalised inferno Cut glass rainbow Hot cinders splinter onto the hearth rug They are glowworms Leaving scorch marks as they cool No fires…

Grey silhouettes Longing looks, Gazing out to sea In a wind dance Drifting in the space between Shadows and echoes, Where the half-forgotten Dream of what might have been, Before…

Grey silhouettes Longing looks, Gazing out to sea In a wind dance Drifting in the space between Shadows and echoes, Where the half-forgotten Dream of what might have been, Before…

The air smells of electricity It tastes of iron and rust, Dogs always bark Just before rain falls And thunder rolls. Raindrops are a mystery to behold When the heat is on the rise…

Nobody notices an old fella Unless he is really making A nuisance of himself. Is that why Old white guys shout the loudest Determined to be heard Whether they have anything to say…

Where do we begin When loose ends fray In a blur of impressions Rain melts into soft skin Melding, one into another Drizzled in perspiration Windows buckle under refraction So…

It is easy to remember The song thrush Under the hedge In the back garden when I was a boy Too easy to forget the fire door Safety check I should have recorded In the calendar On…