THERE BE
there be satirists in the land
rare, ’tis true,
but nore plentiful than dragons
and Oh so easy
to avoid them!
not an issue
to learn to steer clear
of their usual habitats
can dodge
them readily
neither lithe, nor elusive, like
Australian brown or
African black mamba
and nowhere near
as outright venomous
step over them freely
my brothers, my sisters
though they
hiss and may strike
nothing to fear here at all
CHUTE
if we were
aligned skew
during manufacture
and so conjure up
a monstrously concocted version
of original divine image
what hope is there
for us to unentangle
the moment of beauty
is exalted
but passing
no sooner gone than
plunged headlong again
into
theme of survival
Ah, the cycle:
flameout,
parachute
rip cord
again failing
nothing to steer you clear
you clear of those onrushing rocks
about
to hit you at terminal velocity
all I can do
for you: this
song of regret
SAME
found myself Christmasing
in the House of Led Zeppelin
my younger brother
having usurped my rock influences
and extended them beyond
my wildest imaginings
every page in the library here
resounds to Jimmy Page
guitar pyrotechnics
remember this solo, this lick,
this riff?
am cluster bombarded
with questions where I could not
be further from answering
seems like
from Tangiers to Birmingham
to Kashmir
the song is forever changing
only in the most abstract sense
ever
remains the same
SYNCH
“there is no try”
Yoda, The Empire
Strikes Back
should try to
hammer it into
my head
not to worry
what you think
take this
as it is
me
as I am
this my style, that
your style
maybe here’s where
they can
blend
dance in
synch
do much more
than co-exist
WHAT MAKES
what makes
a poem
Shakespearean?
I was asked
the je ne sais quoi
signature
of the bard
indeed
hard to replicate
if you are
thing digital
disembodied
intelligence
binary being
some residue still
mechanical I warrant
no matter how polished
(like reflective
sculpted metal)
the lark-like artifice
with
which you sing
what
makes a poem
human
hold
that thought
set play
to pause
stuff in my answer
I still need to dream
SPELL
strength loves beauty
beauty
loves strength
gold, silver
hard and fast law of attraction
hard truth
soft reception
for better or for worse will be
forever mirroring each other can
never break that spell
TROY STORY
am
a reporter on the scene
at the siege
of Troy
rushing for a scoop, meet
my deadline
ask ancient poet
Homer what he saw
in such
vivid
inner colours
SCRABBLE DABBLE
my brain
is a scrabble set
juggle roles, identities
am after a triple word score
tire
tier
year of the tiger
hit something
good on that
abacus and so
masc and fem mars
and venussing together
dance
of conjunction
in alignment
about to go full
elastic band
slingshot projection
time gravity bending me
to their will
true trajectory
whispering your name
SHUFFLE
poem
could love
but poem
is scar tissue
contagious
in the extreme
it shuffles up
brushes against me
ruffles reality
pretends to a
slick wisdom
passes on things
you would not believe
except
you are a reader
and so you do
SUDDENLY SLAVOJ
let us
delineate
four square address
the issue of morpholog
no prefix suffix
juicy bits
sexual punning innuendo
flyby Uranus
double-.entendre allowed
unless, somehow,
by some miracle,
the crude oil of
laughter might
heal
solder the spirit along
its split seam
this I believe
the crude position of
Aristophanes as
adumbrated to the dinner
guests the evening
of the symposium
before he got so alcoholic rhapsodic
did an Icarus
just fell down
gross guffaws of great philosopy
(looking at
you Professor Zizek)
helping us
spin with the world
as it goes round and round
poems 2 die for