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New Bearings in Poetry
In terms of mere merit, all written or spoken poetry requires a reader or listener, without which it is impossible to comprehend, understand or define absolutely how poetry works. Poetry requires or even necessitates an audience, to be heard or known to exist. Poet and audience are interdependent and related factors. Without these factors there would be no need for poetry or poets to exists. In ac...
Saturday 2nd March 2024 11:38 am
Tough on Rhyme
We’re locking up the poets
And throwing them in cells
They’re dissidents and show it
Via odes and villanelles
Collected incantations
Against the status quo
Acerbic observations
Couplets in full flow
We’re exiling the muses
To be banished somewhere grim
With Terza Rima that confuses
And volumes that are slim
Wokey right-on anarchists
Who kid...
Friday 16th February 2024 2:09 pm
The Origin of Silence
He came like an ancient prophecy
sparked by the howling of the seasons.
Those who pursued him knew nothing of his arts
They did not see him sewn into the four winds
They did not hear him no matter how loud he sang.
In this time of virus and plague true hunger bares its teeth.
A fierce breaking, a shaking and a flailing
A swooning and a sweating, a cruel fever falling
All ab...
Sunday 7th August 2022 6:39 am
Mediocre Town
The dawn never breaks, the sun never sets.
Dirty grey brown sky is as good as it gets.
Malevolent and brooding it hangs like a veil.
Twenty-three feet above the Arndale.
Where uncouth youth roam in packs.
Their flint like scowls as keen as tacks.
Malice and boredom forged the frowns.
On the not so bright future of Mediocre Town.
But don’t be fooled, these kids are scho...
Wednesday 20th February 2019 12:36 am
Sensory Intensity
Sensory Intensity
LED lights getting brighter. God
my eyeballs hurt.
Dyson dryers far too loud.
How fast do you need
to dry your hands? Slow down.
It seems like all the world wants more.
And wants it now.
More power. Turn it up. Make it
Faster
Louder
Brighter
Stronger
Till we drown.
We’re not hardwired for this
har...
Sunday 4th November 2018 9:26 am
Plasticiser (a plastic rap)
there's plastic in the landfill
plastic in the seas
plastic flowers and robot bees
artificial christmas trees
there’s plastic in our food and drink
plasticisers in the milk
plastic plates and plastic spoons
microplastics in our poo
plastic filling up our view
plastic clothes and plastic bricks
I suppose there must be plastic sick
pla...
Friday 2nd November 2018 7:29 pm
I Had To Write This Poem
I had to write this poem
because I thought of this one great line,
What do you think -
will it stand the test of time?
Well, I had to write it down
to deter other poets stealing this idea;
You know lines are clutched from the atmosphere,
Or they fall like apples, spill over like beer.
I had to write this poem,
Because I thought of this one great line;
Like a beat messiah,
My acid m...
Saturday 20th August 2016 4:03 pm
I'm Going To Write A Poem About You
Childish I'm sure
But the way that pavement cyclist
Pedestrian-pranged me his signature
I became his press-ganged human speed-bump
Suffering concrete-kissing discomfiture
Well he certainly deserved nothing less
than the back hand of my pierian
So as the pebble-assed smurf pelted away
Revolving dalek camera on his pompous high viz head
I brushed myself down
Bracing myself for what I a...
Monday 6th June 2016 11:59 am
Performance Medley
Here's a 3 minute 'medley' from a recent performance, which gives a nice flavour of my stuff :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5QtcJnR7SI
Wednesday 3rd June 2015 9:43 am
The Loaded Gun
Hi, I am looking for honest feedback for this please.
You play the game,
you sing the song.
Saying that you don't belong,
that life is not easy.
You wear the right clothes,
hang out with the "in" people,
the loaded gun.
You think, "kuching,"
play by the rules that are for fools,
but life does not really.
Self-righteous in the extreme,
living out someone else's d...
Saturday 9th May 2015 4:29 am
Before and After
Spots. Blind.
Stage high.
Steps to side.
Remember that.
Mic low, must adjust.
Swivel up, screw, twist?
20 steps to public eyes.
Will they listen will they like will they heckle will I die?
Will I fly fall trip cry choke spit cough?
Stammer stutter wobble sweat tic burp boff?
Extraordinarily urinarily anxious.
A pint to pass th...
Wednesday 19th February 2014 4:20 pm
Cheap Whore
Cheap Whore
I don’t cost very much,
virtually giving it away
you like to watch and listen
but you don’t like to pay
I keep you entertained
turning inventive tricks
arousing you all night
giving you your kicks
you like it when I’m oral
you like to feel my pain
you like the kick and twist of it
again again again
I try to sell you add-ons
but you won’t buy my wares
I’ve given you a p...
Thursday 23rd January 2014 7:27 pm
Don't
Friday 24th May 2013 7:55 pm
The Gun - a response to events in the US
I wrote this piece after the events at Newtown and crazy reaction from those deluded enough to think that more guns equals safer country. They have 300 million guns and one of the highest murder rates in the world. As a poet, as an American who is also british, as a father, I wrote this response.
HOW MANY MORE?
Where can I start, but the young ones, their hearts
Ar...
Sunday 30th December 2012 4:50 pm
A why is...
A why is
A why is more than lines that converge or divide,
Going from wide to narrow or from narrow to wide,
At an obtuse angle I have found to be,
More than a mitre’s mere 45 degrees.
A why is more than just A letter.
If U can’t C that you must B blind.
More than two letters blended like a V squashed on top of an l.
In fact, a why has to be mor...
Sunday 2nd January 2011 3:03 pm
Poetry Videos
Here's a nice quick easy promo of a poetry video I've done. I do these from time to time but this is a new one and it's already a personal favourite:
Thursday 18th November 2010 11:47 pm
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