Tag Archives: poem

RIP TIDE

RIP TIDE

it will all blow over
all be gone
next throw of the dice

compressed
into a space
ever so tiny

lead-lined
solid lock

to which the other
half of me (or
perhaps three-quarters)
telling
my sunlight self
to give him
a fucking break

or
(translating
direct from shadow-
speak)
what hope for the species
when it exalts its dredges

to them
doth lovingly entrust
its final demise

swept out and down
into the ocean trenches

sad
that in this last, last
wager

all so gung-ho
no one left to hedge their bets
rethink the logic
of rip tide
(sinking like stones
one and
all

two
for the price of one,
arm
in arm

no last magic
melding of
their warring selves

LID

LID

Let me
shut the lid

the fallen, the victorious
even the defeated
are right as rain

whilst
there is no sang-froid
with our
two generals

in this game
of question marks
and exclamations

a different kind of
battle is determined
by the opening move

only now
ironically as
my eyes fail me
do I start
to see the patterns

too late
for that old crazy
dream of mastery

my default settings
not exactly in tune
with the
exponential dimensions
and configurations

of this impossibly calculated
not
a hint of gray eight by

eight square exact white
black world

wherein
you have the power
to wipe
the floor with me blindfold.

CITY LIMIT

CITY LIMIT

I am that
three legged thing
the Sphinx confounded
everybody with
in its riddle

everybody, that is,
save Oedipus

soon no doubt
to be buried
with my stick
rather ignominiously
no horse drawn carriage
bearing my casket

but this is the thrill
of being human, that we
can imagine
such impossibilities

extend our understanding
out into
   fantastic realms of magic
and dream, or, alternatively,
really real science fiction

and me, as
thing singled out in Sphinx
conundrum, and
thereby
  less worthy of
being spoken about
than others
elsewhere on the age spectrum
of the species that I am

a paltry thing
King Leary type thing

mutating
     without grace but not quite
your standard cosmic
horror lovely
Lovecraft alien
           shapeshifting its way
at mesmerizing speed from
thing
    able to devour
a throng, a host,
a whole mechanized division

this
   in a single bite
and back
to civilized raconteur
in a simple wipe
of last few
bloodspots from
aristocratic mouth

sipping tea
exactly as custom insists,
and every social
protocol quietly
demands
it

Oh yes,
to connect with such
creatures, transcribe
their awe

is a thing we
are up to
wired as
we are

pushing that fear envelope
to the line
of every boundary

I am
that three-legged thing
with, if not special power,
then at least
dispensation

remember
this
    let it
soften your scorn,
failing which,
at least temper your laughter.

SONNY JIM

SONNY JIM

your music
I do confess
to loving
it madly

you lit our fires
with the song
on the soundtrack
to Apocalypse Now

which Vietnam
venture I am
battling to reconcile
with that
false flag
Gulf of Tonkin incident

and the bizarre revelation
that the Navy Admiral
who was at the heart of
and chief architect
of this calamitous
act of subterfuge

was none
other
than your
dear old Dad

upon which note
of strange coincidence
we end
our poem

conclude all comment
on the Lizard King

FUSE

FUSE

you decanted
the Milky Way
into a
soda pop bottle

shook it up
added fizz

put the quantum
field between
two toasted
burger buns

added relish,
pickles, cheese

inside
your bubble

we come
to the meat
of the problem

how a
realm so
grand

could think
so small
so
insignificant

out there in the desert
lighting a very short fuse

SAND

SAND

on my travels
came across
gospels
written on
papyrus
parchment
bound in leather

likewise
uncovered many
a tremendous coat of
living lucid colours
woven by
a mind-altered specialist
and anarchist
of no little renown

sat with all
of this a while
under a palm tree
the Sun setting

the Moon emerging
to add cosmic balance
niggling me, suggesting
that I place
ourageous bets
against the persistence
of light and
recurrence of day

to get
in quick and
win big big

before all
did crumble, everything
stayed dark, became
rule
of night

and desert, sensing
the time was ripe
reduced
    these words to sand