plastic people with plastic hearts

acting their thermoplastic parts

born of plastic from plastic tubes

fed from protuberant plastic boobs

with plastic hopes and plastic dreams

in love with plastic zippered seams

cleaning up their plastic mess

and plasticising happiness.

With pink and squidgy love they stick

plastic slow or plastic quick

they t...

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This is the tale of Old Seth

an engineman on the Chesapeake

rode from Richmond to Ohio

and back two times a week

lately confined in a twilight home

in Wannesboro he dwelt

just keeping to himself most times

the card that destiny dealt.

The doctors reck'ned he'd lost his mind

just sat there looking out,

somedays his eyes would screw right up

other times he'...

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To be highly recommended is

THE PRE - NATAL AGREEMENT

between this John Watkins

and that Jane Silkwood (for example)

in furtherance of a collaboration

of sperm and ovum to produce

intended progeny (the person)

and should such combination be

less than wholly satisfactory in its outcome

in terms of the desirability or productivity

in the fullness of time upon matur...

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The old familiar room relaxes

the slipper fits

the window lets your light out

to do its wandering

and pretence is unwrapped

and the spaceship sits

and this is home base

everything in place.

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On spinning spools

like plastic jewels

the reign of VHS and Betamax

was brief in human terms,

a peeping tom affair

of soporific ads and afro hair

Miami cops with force and flair

longshots of a famous bridge

or the spread of porn to drawing room

girls with small red scarves

the studs with DIY props and

office backdrops

the wallowing sound of the Fender ...

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here had been a garden once

now cats came to die invisibly

amongst the remnants of roses

the tumbled swathe of climbers

they lay in the dragging rave of weeds.

human needs had been here too

through the door now caved in

onto flagstones gashed by hobnails,

and a curtain still hung in a kind of grace

curseying at the nourishing light

life carried on by feel in...

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And in that time

all weapons were collected

and stockpiled into a mountain

and the mountain was worshipped

for no man would ever take up a weapon again.

And the sky was a womb

a rebirthing, the world uniting as one

awoken to love, and the sound was heard

of countless souls in harmony, and the mountain grew

and was worshipped

for on its flanks and peak

all...

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Whether 'twas nobler for a wandering minstrel

such as I to perform

The Birdie Song or Agadoo

to raise a living

or devote my life

to more cerebral forms of the art;

That is the question.

The answer to this is of course

academic.

Needs must

when earning the proverbial crust.

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Full English Brexit please

forget the baguette

bratwurst has never come first

for independence we constantly thirst

on a wave of euphoria

we resurrected Victoria

so full English breakfast for old time's sake

we never really liked being slaves.

still feel part of Europe?  don't despair

though our chances are scuppered

and the cupboard is bare.

The rom...

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I want to be like Elvis

find solace in a song

project myself in lurid capes

a wig and shades

and deep blue suedes.

Now that vinyl's back in town

i'll bring the record player down

spin the discs, hear the King

do the stance and everything

    I want to be like Elvis now

    i've waited for the New Messiah

    but he's dragging his heels or so it feels

 ...

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Sometimes they weave the open road but now

these urban contenders descend like pigeons

one first, then another

nussle up jostle for space

in marked off areas away from the rest

with impossible engines like dragon's teeth

hot from the chase, pulverising air

bonding against other worlds

they draw admiring glances

in their bloated suits

crustaceans of kevlar

stre...

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The desert sun looks up at me

with its perfect skin

like a child unsullied by thoughts

and sin

asking for nothing after the main course

of roast and crackling

bleached bones

wrenched accompaniments

all the trimmings.

I have nothing to add

as my spoon of delight

moon curves around the skin

sinking in

and a final soft puff of sweetness

and loss of ...

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The worshippers queued every day

at the simple sign: "live this way."

No-one seemed to notice

that the sign had been turned around

and the majority were simply led astray.

One man, curious discovered the truth

and watched the simple sincere mistake

that all humans tend to make.

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Do me a favour

take me while the feeling is fresh

close your eyes

don't think of flesh

just pretend the fire needs stoking

the poker's hot

you might think i'm joking

but we need to keep warm

us older folk

so close your eyes don't think of flesh

nobody's too perfect

to take a joke

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they gently softly bob on baby oil

the high spec yachts

demanding attention

in their maritime fonts

dipping their rounded

baby's bottoms whose

daddies have baptized with wealth

Come aboard you filthy rich!

bring your wine toast the bitch

toast these tasteless new horizons

on chinoiserie and marble ma cherie

wear your raybans deckshoes

Rolex to the wind

a...

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I lost a school friend this week to cancer

found out by chance on Facebook

we shared close times

in a band together

travelled on bikes when summers were young

challenged each other in photography

found out by chance on Facebook

while casually trawling

to find something mildly enthralling.

The statement came up ungarnished

amongst the litany of rants

dogs doing...

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Danvers paused, looked up at the sign

Induction Department

up the stairs

the backlit walls looking shyly back

with whispers of a call once dreaded

no doors save the one at the end

he saw

and the way the day imparted its secrets

to bring him here

like a mouse in a trap  

surrounded by death

a senseless history drawing him in

and the door silently opened.

...

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He had reached an age of suspended animation

half sunk into white leather sofa

monogrammed slippers in russet

resting on a quality kilim received as a present

from an admiring Arab in Mornington Crescent

These were trappings of suspended animation

wine table at his side

row of pills prolonging the suspension

fresh from the gym fit for the present

robed like a multi ...

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The Old Kent Road

Roman Way

the Dover Road

running straight as a do or die

first step to success

on a monopoly board

coloured brown the dirty sod

at the end of town.

It is the road that hints of abroad

the road that stood the weight of the horde

of Romans on their foraging way

where Bricklayers Arms

terminus for railway goods

rubbed shoulders with

the...

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The decline of Woolworths was swift and sure

our local one went dark after Christmas

Santa took the goods away

with his airborne overview and sleigh.

The frontage remained like a broken tooth

patched with forthcoming paper events

the stainless steel doors locked and barred

its reputation feathered and tarred.

Then whispers went round of a new kid in town

an imp...

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The indefatigable Judge Rinder

has just jumped through a magic "winder"

he looks about and can't believe it

there's magic about

and he must weave it.

He represents his client base

in daytime TV's soft embrace

and now he sees his mirror image

in ballroom glitz's magic scrimmage

when the juries cast their vote

his casting down just another brief

all his mag...

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In the world of dogging

there must be variations on a theme

corruption in a blind man's dream

and where the shot semen 

casts its seed to the wind

that's where we'll find a semblance

of truths however unpalatable

where the seeds of sorrow

bring on another unforgiving tomorrow

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Voices in the dark

called me back

to visit the arcade

set in a neat

brick facade of shops

entrance flanked

by hairdressers and minicab office

no sign up

though it was a cafe

had been for years.

Stripped of pretension

no daylight entering in

though a copy of the Sun

gave life to the place

but no welcoming

smells of cooking

word had gone roun...

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They faced up to their commitments

stood up to the enemy

crouching to avoid the bullets

concealed themselves for now

heard the whistle.

The land was razed

histories pock marked

mud refined by blood

chins stroked in retrospect

assessments penned for the future.

politicians died natural deaths

and the soldiers came back

to where a home should have been.

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football grounds are deserted

libraries tightly shut

half light subsists

sadness stuck in a rut

but McDonalds comes to the rescue

it's just another day.

Clinics for the borderline insane

are holding open days again

swollen rivers are all in a rush

seeking a reasonable explanation for nature

domestic walls are checked for flecks of blood

its just another day.

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I'm weary of cynicism

so take me down

now to a cell to consider my thoughts

to work out the way the world really works

put me away

treat me bad

to save me punishing myself

and when i've found salvation

spread the word around

to save me from writing in excrement

on virgin walls

to everybody's detriment

an expression of reality

when the black mood cal...

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He was a pleasant enough fellow

proud of his top of the range guitar

fender copy

"keep music live" stuck on the case

de rigeur since music was a living

and amp squatting like a small dog

ready for action

tools in an arsenal of self - expression

a one - band man

arriving too early for decency

set up by the time the others arrived.

He came apparently by rec...

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The common cold is a common curse

that seldom leads to grave and hearse

or the attentions of a wayward nurse

and suitable ministrations

often passed on to foe or friend

before the symptoms start to mend

a casual greeting that will extend

its sphere of operations

the remedies come thick and fast

to pin this beauty to the mast

the choice of options c...

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Osborne said:

Get Carter and a sniper did just that

with a bullet in the back of his head

made sure that he was dead.

It didn't happen like that in the book

he was cut real bad and left to die

open ended like the wound unattended

in Scunthorpe by a brickworks

but that's often the way these plots can vary.

Now back to the film:

in Gateshead chiefly

where J...

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Jack Walton was his name

Jack by name and Jack by nature

Jack the lad in fact

and a very naughty boy was he

around the time of fifty-three

beyond redemption in the classroom

defiant and damned right from the start

Jekyll and Hyde a friend of sorts

unsmashable by deeds and thoughts

I could have lost my sight one day

when a metal tube he threw my way

his fa...

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He came at me with serious intent

out of the late sun

a whirling dervish

with vengeance

insect colours

like a yellowjacket with a sting

in his tail

tanklike I commanded the road

disturbing the arc of his progress

until, with his erect flag

and helmet pod

I heard the shout

looked down at his intensity

his rage and superiority

with frightened eyes.

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Enjoy November the fifth's caprices

with mulled wine and jolly fleeces

sparklers and rockets are the eyes of the night

and a hungry bonfire gathering height

it's a shame Guido Fawkes was hung drawn and quartered

but whatever floats our boat I say

whatever flies our kite.

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Lone Wolf

stirs his coffee

staring

to middle distance.

This new world of his

devoid of meaning

no line of resistance.

Stained by old habits

trained for movements

his mechanised character

spring compressed

Lone Wolf

with weary eyes

still sharp

used to hear the pin drop

now doors slamming

nerves fraying

uncertain dreams of prayin...

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They came in boats to Australia's shores

with dread and hope and trauma

an embarrassment to that settled land

then stripped of human dignity

the refugees were escorted away

to where the all embracing ocean

surrounded them with callous emotion

on hold but not have under canvas

the threads of a future to weave a home

and herded like Australian cattle

with...

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Euthanasia was dropped from the repertoire

several years ago

terminal facilitation was now the phrase

officially used

death by decree a fight you had to lose.

Danvers stood with the stiffening letter

the womb of

the envelope folded back, his bowels

took the brunt

of the clinical shock, his thoughts

sharply up against

 the stricture of faultless reason.

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They're digging the road up       again

last time it was a water main

this time it's gas replacement

from minor road to minor basement

they're moleing through the grass and dew

the traffic mounts

temporary lights

temperatures rise

and particulates.

They're digging up the road        again

strange vehicles stand back to back

men in red are visible for mile...

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The cave resonates with space

light bleeds in from a low sun

unseen from the interior

a blue disc is softly rising

claiming the coruscating horizon

on the even floor of the cave

freshness prevails

Williams - Fortesque is crouching

a meal is prepared

smoke spirals in slow tresses

caressing the high roof.

He hums an often traversed tune

learnt on Earth

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Where the comatose computers rest

on shelves, awaiting their rigorous test

their screens and towers are dust slumbering,

one blinks as if on watch

feeding tubes connected again

to the great bloodbank of internet

always on hand replenishing.

The one who knows their tricks

bad habits, faults

forgives them one and all

with remarkable good humour

thriving on ...

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Once when but a callow youth

from the library forsooth

I borrowed a book on the art of ju jitsu

with crude and basic plans of action

of assailants and defenders'

over reaction..

With these moves inside my head

to school I went with wary tread

until a boy quite lumpy and large

set upon my fuselage

stampeding, bull- like as I cowered

sweating and snorting

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Take a pinch of truth

add a good mix of bullshit

and fake sincerity

topped with passion for taste

shake vigorously

filter through the media

to make it palatable

spread onto a convenient newspaper

or roll out on the internet

and serve the public well.

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My heart told my head she must still be here

here in the house where her life had shaped me.

Yes she would never pass this way again

but my heart told my head that these

markers of a life, the reclining chair

radio, the familiar curtains,

piano I cut my future on

these transient things must be passed on

to the world outside.

My heart would burst though it must ...

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"I killed the monster!"

the hero said

but sad to say it wasn't real

it was just inside his head.

Then he smiled insanely

while the people clapped and sang

not knowing why death

should be so joyous

or why the rafters rang.

But any death is better than none

though it's just inside our heads

and better to claim a victory

than die upon our beds.

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Come back come back

Spring - heeled Jack

scare these lurid jokers.

Set about their masks and robes

with flames and red hot pokers.

With your arsenal of cloak and dagger

with derringdo and a gentleman's swagger

with Pistorius springs

and vampire wings

rescue us from these painted fools

expose their hocus pocus.

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Sex in a rowing boat

is something i've never tried,

even though

a couple of oars

are generally supplied.

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All night long on short wave radio

the operator's hand tapped morse code

like a woodpecker's beak

oblique, sustained with poise and nerve

call sign first then a launch

of identity into chaos

threading out skeining across

the curve of the earth.

Persistent, insistent

and after coffees brewed

the curling unattended cigarette grounded,

a sign of recognition ...

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The past re - threaded in a picture frame

sepia trail leading back to where

a vague sense of time in distress

pinned me there, seeping in 

through the emulsion from the wall behind,

behind the present

to where hands now dust unclaimed

waited to draw me through,

throught the mortar of the past,

father as a son, grandfather as father,

grand aunt as little girl at t...

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They don't ask much from us

these broad reservoirs

geometrically serving their purpose

but without fairy fringes of willow

nuzzling eddies, sun dappled secrets

they give as good as they get.

Purified,sanitized water supplied

and replenished,

great bowls of solace for the thirsty masses

and they have their curious visitors

most in amazement, reverence even

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A seeming half acre of rest spreads out

in Sofaworld, balm to the footsore,

a polite jungle of shapes, making the passage

of berthing time complacent where listless couples

check labels, passing between the Ambassador Suite

and the Grosvenor Sublime.

At the end of a day

Coffee tables nudge in

and footstools like crouching bears

 beef out the designated squares.

W...

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Below the ground a sound is stirring

dead people's thoughts re - occurring

they wonder why their lives were ended

with so much left unattended

and why they had to give up the ghost

ending up as rot or toast

but life goes on, so hush you souls

dwelling deep with worms and moles

the answer lies inside the soil

the results of endless earthly toil.

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Sandcastles

see how they flood with tears

moated

tides of man

hopes, fears

the same the world over

but there is so much sand in this bright land

and grit,

determination to split

and exploit a divided nation.

So let's play with bombs

instead of spades

look down like children,

let's be Gods!

Rip up the sand from our castles

in the air,

b...

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With new glasses my world has aged

faces stunning like old brickwork

staring back at my amazement

with new glasses my world swims up close

like a mad eye, nothing can be missed

clouds become personal, pavements etched

and I can see young minds making much of little

in the blend of the new and the old

threatening reproach beyond the glass.

Then finally fold...

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I knew that she was there

in the flat

above the nondescript shop

that door at the side,

twenty nine

knew she was in there

and that she pressed down the bed

a chair

touched handles

make - up

a mirror looking back

I knew these things

and that when she was quite ready

would be through that door

to the left or right

heel turning

smoothing her d...

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Climb every mountain

sink another trench

piss in a fountain

bed another wench

shout from the rooftops

how life could be much better

write an acrostic

piss off an agnostic

cover your favourite wall with rants

crap in someone else's pants

impress a bunch of sycophants

move to the south to sunny Hants.

Never block the motivation

while the middle classes swoon

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Jesus wept for the likes of you

who take the message and spread it thin

'til all that remains is a hollow gourd

the holy grail in place of the Lord

but spread the word and watch your back

in case the spirit conceals a crack

devotion is a sticky web

and the edge is sharp on the holy sword.

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Like the rings of saturn

where no man has gone before

the music of the spheres

presses by gravity on vinyl space

and while jupiter aligns with mars

we sit with fingers arched and

The static finger writes

antennae of the big spaces and vibrations

and a new child is reborn

as the big planets go round

and follow the sound.

A celestial majesty remains

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During the night the storm erupted

and the thunderous applause of the rain

welcomed it and the dance

keeping us hostage

under the cabin roof

my subterranean sleep disrupted.

When the power went down

the night became a sightless eye

but the sound was of a sky in torment

and we were afloat, unblinking then

in the coracle of a disturbed dream

buffeted as in ...

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A strange thing is a weekend

like a bookend

for the end of the week

and the start of another

and somehow special

like a book unread

looked forward to

yet soon forgotten

in favour of the demands

for something that may happen

on the next

and though the text may be the same

as sure as sure we must give it a name.

We can only be gratefu...

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At first Foxley felt a sense of unease

then rumours started

gossip mainly

the clever ones stoking up discontent

a feeling of doom pending

life's delicate balance changing.

Strange knowing looks

breathed intimations,

then other early signs

whole departments closing down

added pressure

diversionary tactics

bypassing overstretched functions.

Notices we...

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Howard was an all - American

hands big enough to crush opinion,

retired now from being an actuary,

a sun around whom a penumbra of ladies

revolved while their husbands receded

in the heat of him.

He stumped up an adulation

for the Rolling Stones and

the follies of brexit.

His voice was Job on the hilltop

persuasive and unassailable.

Not quite ready for th...

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Look up to the heavens

no life is there and yet

the wonderment

of God's fundament

comes down like rain

the more you stare.

Switch on your phone for confirmation

that life is in your hands

mysteries explained

that wondrous information to share,

for nothing ventured, nothing gained

that has not somehow come to earth

and so the young ones learn to stare

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An assassin makes lists to clear his head:

check the beretta

feed the red setter.

Us lesser mortals make lists

to make us feel better:

contributing to life's emerging needs:

answer the council letter

paint the bathroom

pull out the weeds,

milk the cat

feed the budgie

shake the mat.

Write a poem

 replace a bulb.

The list gets longer

as you add ...

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The new Messiah is available for hire

his rates are remarkably low by the hour

his motivations to save whole nations

are contrary to the general flow

we jadedly have come to know.

His opening sentence will advise repentance

in order to bring us together

and he wears no suits of impeccable cloth

and never appears in full body leather. .

He wants to look humble...

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In the supermarket at the science fiction end

all is well, yet all my uneasy dreams come true again.

I am in need of bottles, sprays, tubes, preparations,

a pharmacist in crisp white coat is half concealed

and I drift to the holiday rotunda, for things

I never know that I might need on the hostile trip

to block out exposure to pain on some God - forsaken plain

baby f...

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You grannies

you old wise ones,

not always saying enough

or maybe too much

with benefit of hindsight

and desperate for someone else's future.

You've seen the comings and goings

old wounds opened up

fresh ones with dawns and sunsets

and you don't always want to say

what you feel knowing

that young ones cannot kneel

yet one day when distances are blurred

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Don't ask for peace

don't ask for reason

expect what is coming

and in the horror of the truth

the sun will keep rising

and the moon will weep

at empty promises

that no-one can keep.

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I'm in love with Matt Baker

he's a mover and shaker,

and impeccably human and warm

he takes on challenges

with rickshaw and ropes

and he always seems on form.

Although he's so young and I am so old

he's also mature and incredibly bold

masochistic enthusiastic

on him i'm definitely sold.

 I have a strong sense

that we might mend a fence

in the Dales wit...

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I'm dedicating my entire anthology

to a local recycling centre

for casual perusal

with no risk of refusal.

Their recycling pathology

is ultlmately discreet,

no painful analysis

no creative paralysis,

and nature itself may benefit

from the material mentioned

compacted in the greedy grateful

unfeeling ground

or in the incinerating sky

that's afte...

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When Donna Summer was Queen of the disco scene

the drought of seventy -five was just a memory,

and in that torrid summer I burst with lust

northbound to Scarborough

home of Max Jaffa who reigned in the dancers

to sweet cascades

revived from fish suppers and the esplanades.

My right foot down the motorway

for temptation's fresh embrace

with Debbie, dancer at the Floral Ha...

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Hi everybody!

this is Poem of the Day

but in the thrill of the chase

for an elevated place

my ego and sense of humour got in the way.

That's why today

i've nothing new to say.

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Venturing in to a soul with love

is no mean thing and not to be taken lightly.

Within that ground lie answers

to questions too painful to raise

but entering in can help

at a risk known only to the brave.

Once outside again

there is no place to hide

but what's revealed

will often end the pain.  

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O River Thames,  maiden born pure

then, like the life around you polluted

now once more sparkling without your trade

chastened by those who would buy

your favours in high rise form

pressed close guarded, jealous of others

who would press their claims

on your genuflection and breathe

your grey reflection.

You shamelessly ignore those men

with Rolex watches who,

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"Suffer the little children to come unto me."

(who will protect them?)

O death where is thy sting,

O grave where is thy victory?

(More fine words as we fail them.)

Watch this space as more fall foul

of needless death's embrace.

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Out of the mist the Scotsman came

with kilt and claymore and eyes aflame

straight into the Cloggy Mire

and there by God he did expire.

Never a tear was shed for him

who was so strong in life and limb

nor will his company ever be missed

by maidenkind so seldom kissed

and only the moor could ever claim

the Scotsman on the day he came

with murderous mind and a...

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Which of my hands do I like best?

a ticklish one for sure,

they both inspire confidence

can open the average door

according of course to which way it faces

that much is obvious,

but other uses have more subtle context

to which I am obviously not oblivious.

The right one shakes another's hand

a sense of pleasure or duty,

the left one may touch a handy waist

to ...

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Funny thing how fame creates

wonderful graves for the departed

most of my dead relatives

ended up in the shadow of Heathrow

humble souls

fame like the aircraft passing them by

while drinks were prepared in the sky

below the ground nothing much changes

except what God rearranges.

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Pain in the arse people

always have enough time

to make your life a misery

living close by.

They know by instinct

honed to perfection

that you're fair game

it's natural selection

and if you're foolish enough to complain

they'll simply go on raising their game

to put the screws on

your peace of mind

with barking dogs,

monstrous music,

the ent...

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The rain spoke in a thousand voices

insistent to be heard

black rivulets beckoned

the room dark behind

I heard my name

muttered in the motion

in the crystal trance

as through the window I went

and met myself in advance

outside my skin

the rain beat patterns

all was moist

the living beat as one with the dance.

Never shall I know again

the dry...

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Make love to the air you breathe

make music

and in the playing

and with the listening

the air will talk back to you

and you will breathe anew.

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An intelligent family man with children

scorned by his father

disallowed disavowed

communication severed

just a dream in their new growing heads

 curious for the true nature of love.

His father my brother

a loner, cursing out loud.

We keep in touch, ignoring the cracks

misery paved over by passing feet

on a vaguely familiar street.

I try to bridge a gap ,...

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Selection    detection     projection

these are the bullet's aims

designed for subjection

singly or in a spray

like flowers

let us pray

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Do not be fooled by a mind that is clever

the mind is a circle

and we may meet en route

but as likely as not

we'll be like travellers

around the edge

whirling round in a space

that can only confound.
 

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incisive    divisive    decisive

live by the knife

the power of the blade

then consider

cut flowers forever laid.

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One day of a lonely life

my thoughts became entwined

it did not take a great amount

of will to settle my mind.

Resorting to the grip 'n drip

to muster up the mustard

I savoured some photos of impossible beauty

a sense of something impossibly fruity.

Though with the degradation of age

and its fruitless dreams of heritage

my thoughts debased by nubile youth

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Zappa dominates the stage

like an emissary from hell

on a throne of rage.

The Mothers of Invention

With long hair, distortions

their swords freed from the scabbards of intention.

the band of threatening proportions.

Spit running from tortured tubes

of burning brass and reeds

frets melting under finger ferrets

stretched skins writhing

reputations maintained

and t...

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Marilyn's blowjobs were legendary

sadness and gladness combined

little girl sold on to men of America

who helped destroy her peace of mind.

She knew just how to make it work

to make the strong men cry

didn't know how innocence tragically spun

can make the big girls die

how could she trust what springs from lust

before the world could say goodbye.

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Bram Stoker's ghost is queueing

at the turnstile of the National Trust.

He's hoping for a viewing

of the abbey ruins at Whitby

the church and the plunging steps

where Lucy Westenra descended

entranced, danced to Dracula's tune

"Was Dracula real" he asks himself

as he looks far out to sea,

"or another facet, a commercial asset

of tragic history."

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At the crossroads of Blackhorse Lane

and Forest Road, past the ferry Inn

a long long walk to Spurs

undertaken with relish

along the railway wall that ran

across the marshes

trolleybus poles still in place

saturdays still smelled of fish,

chips in bags, the debris

like a paperchase.

The crittall - eyed walls

of Raelbrook shirts backed up

the multiple bus sto...

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I love the way your blouse

reveals its parted lips

that kiss so lightly

with breathless hush

what lingers in the furtive mind

of someone sacrificing much

in love's sweet game

to torment's flush

and should you smile

with parted lips

insanity would take me

a hostage now

as earthly blind temptation reigns

to ever dream

of flesh unleashed

to die serene...

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The rich know how to shit

through the eye of a needle,

a matter of willpower

concentration

big loans for research

from big mates at good rates

hysterical really.

They consort with Gods

pass through front doors

while others wait round the back

just using the loos

with everything to lose

hysterical really

how clearly the definition becomes

when you...

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My my how they've grown

those little ones with new and

weighty lives of their own

pecks on the cheek on arrival and departure

at our height, though we feel

the diminution  of age.

Grandchildren

already driving, commanding troops

with phones,  and it seems that

we are at the top and bottom

of all this splendour, emerging

from a sublime challenge, waiting for ne...

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The greedy God is a needy God

offering paradise to those

who would make a body count

in a violent misshape of fate

for needy Gods need sacrifice

to justify their cause.

What God creates he takes away

while man creates his laws.

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my soft - boiled egg was ruined

this morning

just as a new day of hope

was dawning

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In the Old Curiosity Shop I dwelt

with Kit and Nell and Daniel Quilp

all trapped inside the story lines

and a skein of judgments in bygone times.

Half dozing in the murky heat

my body tired under the sheet

I was much disturbed to see

a character leaving its destiny

by walking out onto the page

or so it seemed in its tiny flourish

the plot suspended, too dens...

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I was born in a toothpaste tube

squeezed from all sides

suctioned out

an afterbirth of talent pooled

which wrapped around me

 as it cooled.

Watch me now as I squint and squirm

this wriggly squiggly restless worm.

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Yours was the face, the last

piece of a jigsaw

a gap filled, to quell

a nagging disquiet

that reigned my spirit in

but I knew you would come

to fill that gap

so that blood could flow with a joy.

And in the strange recognition

there was no need of words

thoughts already sensed

a dream recommenced.

Call me a fool if you must

but in that face I tr...

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I love the idea of religion

but not like you love

the pipes that carry waste

away under your house

unseen unfelt but useful.

I'm not inclined to the major decision

i'm ok with the loftier vision,

but everything about religion:

the bland respect

God expects

the laying of hands

the muting of liberated glands,

teacakes and tea

the tedium of service

the endles...

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I awake and look around me

at the old grey walls that surround me

and I think that I am dreaming

the sun has not been kind of late

to the green green grass at Dortmund

there's a guard and there's a group of soldiers

the grass is brown at the army base

Queen Elizabeth the queen mother

is coming to inspect the place

and the pots of paint are coming out

to paint the brow...

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He did not for one moment

intend them to be useful

but simply to hang in rows

each one a history of mouth to mouth

      the whistles.

Nor come to blows,

orderly, curious, contentious even

      the whistles

mute, obedient,

 like guns unfired

no longer expedient of intention

to rally the masses

subdue the lads and lasses

for conformity of action,

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The lifespan of a fart

is but brief

and must needs express itself but once

with a sense of relief

being vapour it has no visible presence

and godlike contains in volume

a sense of its essence.

A social stigma it carries, no doubt

and in audible terms

the rules of decorum it must flout

whilst seeking an outlet

it must drift about,

so beware the impulse ...

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metal hearts beating

the mantra repeating

automotive reliance

the dark side of science

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