MEDAL
He is so proud
he just
got his medal
for exceptional
courage in
the line
of duty
bombing
a school
for
little girls.
MEDAL
He is so proud
he just
got his medal
for exceptional
courage in
the line
of duty
bombing
a school
for
little girls.
BLUE PLANET
the blue planet
we have fucked up
loving to see us
turn demonic
knows it will
soon be
shot of us
the plague
of which it
shortly
will be
finally rid
observing us
as our systems collapse,
fall apart
and we
genocide
each other
final triumph
of our evolution
this ultra crazed
fundamentalist mind
blue
planet
almost unable
to contain itself
never ever
loved us at all
SCRIPTURE
thick smoke pouring
skyward indicating
target-rich environments
things
balanced on
a scalpel-sharp
knife edge
nuclear option
not least of all
and here I am in
the basement stack
a year before
we met
used to chat
in this exact place
half
a century ago
here I am
deep down in the
bowels of the University library
(the same
library destined
to burn)
reading
the Upanishads, wondering
about the nature
of consciousness,
transcendence and
this thing
they call the
soul
outside the thick rain clouds
hitting us with an
insane deluge
as they cross
the mountain
and
me diving deeper into
these sanskrit scriptures
(in translation)
losing all
sense of
space and time
the ghost presence of that
briefest moment
of being
together,
swirling about me
unseen, promise of
something
beyond special
never destined
to be
those thick clouds rising
above an expanse
of ferocious
flames
this is not going
to end well
chance that
what ends it
ends everything
so much
for all of us to lose,
we
played this so badly
so stupidly,
the laws of physics
that tell us
we are all
if small
matter
infinite energy
a small Sun a
flash of light of
miraculous intensity
and
crazy as it sounds, obessive
truly
the balance
slipping, tipping
thinking of you
something of the truth
of you there
in those scriptures
BOTTOMLESS
the deepest, darkest
place in Hell
wholly black hole
bottomless
is where
knowing
not
a
shred of
regret, not
an
ounce of
shame
shred
of regret
hypocrisy
lies
bathing
itself
in the false
smothering
light
ultimate mirror, and
one true image
of singular,
perfect pride
THE RIGHTEOUS
the schools are closed
the universities closed
they are legitimate targets
justifiable collateral
you have
slaughtered so many already
we have learnt
our lesson
the airports closed
the hospitals closed
we are
your enemies
we see how
deep your hatred goes
how far it extends
we have
closed everything
making it
difficult for you
the righteous
to annihilate us
depriving your
death-dealing machines,
cutting
edge weapons
of a target-rich
environment
ROUTINE
Went through
my routine
they all
died laughing
saw some
rolling on the floor
after the show though
no one talked to me
went home to
my tiny flat
thought up
some great new jokes.
WHOLESALE
Saw you
with your lover
said “hello”
took
a photo
of me
the two of you
did
sent it
to me and
am looking
at it now
no longer
your wholesale admirer
but nevertheless
trying to
recall your
perfume
we were
both young then
vibrant, insouciant
so much
in love with each other
but not
at the same time.
SHARED
got the sad news
from you
that
I had died
wondering about death
if having
an after
it be premised
on a frenzy
of forgetting
wonder who
will be entrusted to
give your
your sad news
hope it
could be
someone who
loved you
as much
as I did
we about
to depart, detach.
disappear from
any hint
of a reality
we might have once shared
HALF-TIME SCORE
oodles of suffering
eating this icecream
without sprinkles
the icy cold vanilla
travelling down
a tooth nerve
but, hold your horses,
let’s get the half-time score
from the West Asia war
all those cruise and
ballistic missiles leveling
high rises as if
they were fragile confections
death feasting on the complicit
as ravenously as
with the innocent
death longing
for a war that
will annihilate us all
nuclear winter us
out of this,
bad joke of a time
SLICE
gave you
a slice
of cake
put it
on a plate
gave you
a slice of plate
and on
that slice of plate
I laid
all
my love and hate