Adrian's wall is nothing special,

no visitors flock to its breezy heights,

it flanks the corner of Evelyn Street

one of Rawtenstall's lesser known sights. 

Adrian lives in obscurity

has never been feted by the National Trust

no would be conquest

has ever been thwarted

no glorious victories credited there,

although repairs were carried out

when a car ran wide...

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Through the watery wasteland where Surrey

touches the fringes of Middlesex to create

reservoirs, distant impressions of gravel workings

a skeletal landscape pock marked by bungalows

nudged by water weary boats shunted and left

with curtains drawn, I drove past purbind vistas

where my memories mixed from the old palettes

a pale wash and weariness:

Laleham, Shepperton, Charlt...

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Homeless, hopeless

figures below the radar

invisible, divisible

scant on comfort

at the blunt edge of hope.

But we all know there should be a home

a hearth at which to sit, make the best of it.

Without such a place we lose our hearts

with nowhere to rely on

a perimeter without a centre

a view without focus. 

We all know there are not enough homes to go ro...

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If it's not a tsunami it's somebody's army

taking over the news

our eating disorder is bang out of order

with so many getting the blues.

No wonder that the men in cloaks

are praying for better times

politicians running in circles

with neither reason nor rhymes.

.

The queues for complaints are stretched to the limit

with no ready answers to hand

simmering tension to...

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Autumn, when the world falls at your feet

to worship you with decay

tumbling of dogs and children both

scenes of wind and stunted growth

when sunlight dapples the day. 

That's when as like as not you feel

the touch of nature's solemn pride

the retreat of roots beneath the soil

in trenchant ways their downward coil

then put their tricks aside.

And all God's n...

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While I think it someone is shouting about it

digging their heels in

shovelling something soft

with a distinctive stink about it. 

Is it any wonder I often keep thoughts to myself

try to safeguard the sweet air from verbal pollution

instead of dipping into the vicious brine

and treating that as a solution. 

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He intended taking her for a meal in a restaurant

that he new she would like but in the end she chose,

they spoke softly light heartedly

as in the early days with a fresh hesitancy.

She responded with a squeeze of his hand

loving looks, then they visited local shops in the rain

trying not to be critical seeking novelty

watching out for new faces,

Christmas was putting on an...

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Relish your dark woundings

prime your pellets

check your powders

for soon comes the hunter's moon

Polish your stock

let your barrel breathe oil

make slick your cloths

practise footfalls of stealth

for soon comes the hunter's moon

while fen and forest

sweat and furrow

while fur frets in the burrow

hold fast your dreams for now

for soon comes the hunt...

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It's my mummy's birthday today

a hundred and fifteen to be precise

but now she's passed away. 

Nineteen years have gone and time is moving on

but I can see her as sharp as a pin

I know she must be looking in. 

She never wanted to let me go

but had no option that much is clear,

that was the future I suppose

but today the clouds have parted and like the crescent moon

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Foot soldiers come in impatient white vans

to fix the glitches that plague us so

with buckets and bags of impatient tools

bending the pipeworks flippant with rules

of mysterious companies keeping pace

with hysterical offers to tempt the unwary

terms and conditions the all seeing eyes

encyclopaedic with whats and whys.

Playing their part we trust these men

who s...

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Pressed together on a rail allotted

with a row of trousers I became besotted

a clearance sale I couldn't refuse

with dark and pale subtle hues. 

The selection tempted me to try

a pair that hung and caught my eye

something right about the colour

camouflage green but slightly duller. 

Behind the door of the changing room

disrobing I began to fume

with heavy ch...

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Below the waterline was the dressing room

like a world war one dugout

where we found traces of previous occupation

the tired and cast off detritus of musicians:

a discarded shirt, dirty towel,

yesterday's Daily Mirror coiled and thrust  

into a waste paper basket,

drawers of hair grips. old smudged tissues, half - used makeup,

cigarette stubs in a tin ashtray

the faint s...

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My hands gripping the bars

legs doing all the work

on that open road

flanked by summer hedges

bristling witnesses to my effort

no other traffic

a sky defining a clear horizon 

raced uphill to meet me

as I went over the top

to see patchwork fields. 

That's how it was

and now my hands rest lightly

on a steering wheel

through glass I can still make out

t...

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In various hutches pods and cages

her poultry world

a commitment based on egg production

in the scuffling shuffling universe

of confined resentment and sensed rages. 

Opening her arms feathers fly out,

a confetti confession of love

oblivious to smell of ordure, urine

while her daughter follows in hot pursuit

naming not blaming the curious rats

racing and cha...

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Released from a capsule

a dark encapsulated death

a cessation an instant of last drawn breath

at the end of a dream that never came true

the skeleton rainbow ahead of arrival

with never a guarantee of  survival

locked into a past and present embrace

a fatal return to a state of grace. 

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Superfoods dictators of moods

building blocks pyramids of power

all available from your ivory tower

but in the full length mirror complaints

so it's back to the carbohydrates again

the cynical blending of sugar and fat

the fridge is miraculously never bare

while pretty packets stack up in there

but keep believing nevertheless

cross your heart and hope to die

it's time...

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On a long journey north by train

two young guys in T-shirts and jeans

pored over a plastic boxed set of miniature chess

bought on Ebay for pleasure not gain,

red and white pieces with fiddly pegs in holes,

a small tray incorporated in the base

with conquered plastic spoil lodged there. 

Two phones lay ignored

coffees in polystyrene cups growing cold

as the outside f...

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Toastmaster toastmaster, where have you gone?

the bride and her father await,

at the threshold they stand exactly as planned

awaiting your welcoming call

like a preening bird in black and red

on an aristocratic estate. 

Is it perhaps you've forgotten your lines

is a crisis of confidence striking,

your plumage gives you a right to speak

is something not to your likin...

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We have put on the costumes of old people

adapted so well to them

squirmed and squeezed into shapes

become disproportionate with waists bulging

shoulders hunched,

worst of all the tight masks that say grin and bear it

and the misery so great we need to share it. 

The young in their fresh skin

do not get a look in, nor would they wish to

except in rare moments of cur...

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Something tells you that whatever you do

is not quite good enough

but not good enough for who?

Ask yourself if you dare but have a care

the answer may come back to haunt

a way ahead may be closed to you. 

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It was a big event when a new sun

bowled in to the Milky Way

brash and flash promising the Earth, a new deal,

becoming hot news on the world wide web

a more considerate climate for everyone

encouraging life on other planets,

altogether a new dawn. 

After the blackout panic

a brief period of adjustment came when

archbishops imams rabbis and other heads of religion

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The feast of colour should be an etching of nature's joy

not of horror rendered forever into minds. 

The nazis were thorough

versatile in their methods

for such is the pornography of cruelty

satisfaction in putting to death the innocents

pleasure at a job well done. 

Arbitrary hanging was one such habit

the ending of precious lives

by choking on a rope in full ...

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Lenny Mclean, Lenny Mclean

inflictor of pain again and again,

his thermostat so close to insanity

a lover of fame who courted vanity. 

A loving father with early issues

triggering vengeful states of mind,

in East End streets pubs and gyms

a massive encounter of the hurting kind. 

A Hoxton lad like him could take it

give it out and never fake it,

he joins the rank...

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I was born and brought up in the Cotswolds

now the nouveau riche live there

they've got all the farms that now have alarms

dress down for chuch and don't care.

They live with riches beyond belief

then drink in the pubs with the locals

wearing spotless wellies and barbour coats

nostalgic for ninepins and yokels.

There's visitors from Asia

who enjoy the yellow gl...

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The sight of an open stale trombone case

a nylon band jacket, its bright colour betraying age and sweat,

the distant thump of a disco between sets

all these things feature in my post traumatic dreams. 

The night time scapes of motorways

all day breakfasts in service cafes

oft recalled jokes whose punch lines are forgotten,

male preserves like old poultry houses

in forl...

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This year will be different

I'll get my act together

pretend that there's no misery in the world

at least not in mine. 

For a start i'll check the house for intruders,

after the all clear probably go out

into that perfect place

the neighbourhood.

Preserve all dignity be prepared,

nothing will happen that I can't supervise

control, manipulate, approve of,

...

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