SHADOW WORLD
like a
shadow on
a bridge in
Hiroshima
some things
are destined
to
remain
SHADOW WORLD
like a
shadow on
a bridge in
Hiroshima
some things
are destined
to
remain
FIRE
hardly poetry
in motion
I slip and fall face-first
the ball dribbling away from me
the goal at my mercy
the very gods of association
football
begging me
to score
before that over
the bar
past the post, every
shot off
target
something askew
with my sinews
what
it just has to be
one day I shall write this
as if it were just
bad
dream
not painful reality
drafting like a maniac
on my mobile phone
I may just
out of nowhere
bring into being
a cannonball
of a poem
artifact smooth and deadly
with that force that
be the product of
mass and
acceleration
crack open any
defence readers
might prepare
(ultimate answer to
so many misfires)
ONLY ROCK AND ROLE MODEL
they played black music
darker than anybody
these white English boys
demonized
by the establishment
in trouble with the constabulary
those
guardians of the imperial peace
ridiculous in their choice
of millinery
and here they are
seeking shelter
that goat of
a lion
prancing across
the stage with s striped
plants Gaga
hooked on twelve bar but
soon that skin
was shed
and your tunes stuck
their claws into me
lesson after
brain-twisting lesson
voodoo voices
soaked in ragged truth
needed something mesmeric
to get ms through
years of
strrrtfightimg
only rock
and roll they claim
give me
a break
CLEAR
it is the cracks and crevices
that one must probe, be eager
to peer into
willing to follow to
whatever logical conclusion
it lead to, even if this
be a crevasse
or deep marine trench
such as some
oceans be renowned for
and here I am
in that liminal space
between parking
lot and Mall
snacking on Sushi
as I stroll towards
a fast food joint
no need
to name them, they are
a household word
and there in a crack in
the new pavement
a leaf green
grasshopper
minus
a few legs getting
swept up
by a broom
same green that be as
the Kawasaki racing green
of my old
cafe racer
motorcycle
such out of
the everyday stuff
not difficult to
spot if
you take
a look. can see
and me
always on the alert for
glitch in the program, mis-
quote
in the subtext
the Zen of the mindful
from
the stupor of
all that is
empty, hide bound and
mindless
razor edge thin, which
is why
we stay clear
LIKE AN BILLIONAIRE
I’m shopping
like a billionaire
the app
revolutionary
the benefits fabulous
am in a digital paradise
buying whatever
I desire
purchasing everything
bonds and stocks
trusts and shares
my house full to its limits
stacked floor to ceiling
rsilways, hotels,
airports and harbours,
vast tracts
of underdeveloped land
got me feeling like a billionaire
carving up the world
on this
unbelievable app
full
of such radical potential
hundred dollar
sandwich
as yet unbitten into
there to fix my hunger
should I get round to eat.
IN THE FLESH
here’s a feast
for the ages, for your fingers,
for your life, for
all times
for
your heart and soul
in the flesh
carved from
the bone my dear
carnivours
where all is sweetest
some thing left
for you to pick at
that is quite outrageous
panopolies of cauldrons
spawning
much smoke
and music
Hell crazy indeed
these mountain landscapes of food
full sausage processes
meet off-cuts of Heaven
meaning
all you can eat
but where
would carnival be
without its underworld
the darker whose secrets
liberation
the sweeter
the taste
(and as much vice versa
as you are
willing
to hear as much
outright contradiction
as you came for today)
.
harvest, autumn
seeds and leaves
all is in cycle
all
rise
must fall
precarious all this plunder that
speaks words
of wonder
whips up
pudding praise, storm
salad of words
buffet
smorgasbord
release
your inner Viking
dormant marauder
still spinning
what gives, is this
not
eternal engine simply
infinite machine?
those modernists of yore
clattering away, force-
feeding
their typewriters
fry
what is
deep frozen (deep
fry, twice
the ice fry in batter)
prove
food for thought as to
how revolutionary
one can be
meat of an idea full
of succulent goodness something
paid the price for
off cuts and fillet
what nestles close to
the heart
attached to
the bone
a sea of food rendered
an ocean of flavour
all that is sweet bitter sour
full savoury indeed
all in the garnish, style
of the spices
the street in your food
pushed to its class
limit
stretched to
haute cuisine
feel it
in your marrow as you
ride the wild rides
eat
the squid
counter the octopus
take
a last bite
drink your last sip
time left to cure and
let
the stew brew
the rich liqueurs percolate
here’s a feast
tosink your teeth into
MURAKAMI
“you must have big rats
if you need Japanese steel”
Kill Bill, Volume 1
I read some Murakami
that we might
be on
the same page
if not
dance together
at least be able to
whistle
the same
tune
which I hear now
floating over old Edo
before
it got firebombed to death
turned to ash
rose again as fresh colossus
spreading its fingers
into how
we picture our world
GOLD STANDARD
you are
the gold standard
best
touchstone
asked for a handout
you chopped
my head off
split
the atom
stole
several body parts
oh my staccato life subject
to this debt slavery
roll over credit
what was now
roll over
play dead
or actually die
all for a few scrappy
coins in the offing
kind of
smaller
than atoms
and me
under such pressure to
edit down
this poem
get it in tune, right tone
sufficiently complicit
in every single way
FRIDAY 13th
it”s Friday 13th
St Jason”s Day
in September
so wear your
hockey mask children
you know you have to
deep down
want to
nothing like
slasher jump scare
to bring that
delight home
and this the message
that we telling
the monster exists
and he is
pretty much
indestructible
will
keep on
coming into
the Universe ends
and even then
that might not stop him
something about
dear Mr Vorhees
precedes everything
was here
long before the idea
of safety
was even born
CIRCUITRY
wanted Titania
got titanium
a cyborg Queen
of the Fairies terminator
sent back through time
to this forest outside
Athens
depicted
in the play
to translate me
into your bottom-
level
love machine
drag me
out of the audience
into her bower
to explore
the wonders of her
titanium shape
and form
inner beauty
of her circuitry