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More recent poems first. Last Updated : 13/02/09


‘Victoria The 3rd’ - written Feb 2009

sleeping with your hair up in arms and waving
to the sea and the waves as they crash
upon the rock filled sand. with a slight sound, you
beckon towards the ships and the flying birds
and the flying shapes of ships and men with beards.
you wish upon a star, but i am no leading creature!
I don't even feature on the front page.
There is no gossip through the years or fears
for my health among men who hang on my ever word.

it's as bad as i feared, if you were not here.
for you, margaret my dear


‘RAIN’ - written 2008

Do you remember the darkness of countryside
powercuts? That old barn-house was a terrifying
place with the drip, drip, dripping of the rain
seeping like blood through the gaps in the iron.

These were times when the power would be cut dead
by a freak torrential downpour and we'd all stand
shivering in the hay. Why would you walk in your
own filth? Oh, silly creatures! We'd occasionally
peak out to see the cows walking towards each other.
They didn't seem to mind the rain - mind you -
and the generator whirring away to provide power
for my father was at best an eccentric beast -
mighty loud - like the winding up of local town drunks.

These were long Autumns and cold winters and even
light from the candles seemed dark. The rain clattered
the roof like a bunch of rowdy tap-dancers. What
was a mere lad supposed to do? Such a downpour could,
after all, leave you soaked right through.


‘DEATH’s RECIPE’ - written 2008

Old and crisp and brown,
drop to the ground –
both sides now

Limp and glacial fuzz,
the booming chime of space.
Tick the mark, indicate the place,
clean to the bone.

Put up bail, collateral,
shut down shutters,
close the lids…… Done.

IMAGINED WHILST SLEEPING - written 2008

Passing like floating apparitions
Economic plight, oh sorrowful nightmares!
The times now had and times gone by -
the dream I had last night

It fell on a bonny summer day,
the plough and the courting.
Gypsies appeared to set sail on
pints of beer and bottles of sherry.

The sweat and toil and the sun beats
down - that lucky old sun.
A romance in hops, cooling off,
simple good times.

My bride, i'll sing you a ditty,
we'll go dancing a rig-a-jig-jig.
It's all here in the music
of our dear native land.

UNTITLED #1 - written 2007

We are the flash of blue in the middle.
What can I do for you today, my love?
The world is a marble, unbreakable.
Can I clean and prepare an orange
Wipe the toilet with a sponge?
Offset our debt with a shining star
Dream of a land a-far where courage
is rewarded, imagination is drawn and
manly manes are shorn to
reveal the truth?
We are the flash of blue in the middle.
True as the day I first bit into you.

I HEAR A FAR OFF SEA-SHANTY - written 2007

To autumn and springs which no longer last
To the ancient singer that now doesn’t sing
A weathered vane that erratically swings.
Bring and buys and nobody brings

A land once green now bleached brown
A jester no happier than drunken clowns
The trees can’t stand the sound of the storms
that batter barriers and flood the ground

People are leaving left right and center.
The dancers in dress no longer make sound
No grapes to make wine, no flowers in bloom
The reels and jigs have died down

I hear a far off sea-shanty
Dream of times gone by

FORGIVENESS - written 2007

Our cat is a giraffe.
A cow, a monkey and a goat.

Our cat believes it’s a laugh
when she knocks down china
and smells are behind her
and she prowls and brools
and ultimately

our temper cools.

A purring panda, a lion in drag
A saggy old cloth cat ( on TV )
A loving slinky beside me

IN THE YEAR TWENTY ZERO SEVEN - written 2007

If man is still alive we all fly on water
and swim in the air and become our daughter

Miracle medicine and flying geese,
speedy tortoises, revived porpoises
and a Dinosaur zoo on the moon
Telephones in our heads, folding up beds
that turn into washing machines

What will the future bring?

Am I dreaming after eating too much xmas pud?
Landed on mars in '86 just as they said we would

Spark - written 2006

I grow old, I grow old.
I'll never wear the bottom of my trousers rolled!

We fight the dying of the light,
We dance on the promenade!

We move in the tide of the sideways swim,
everything that life brings.

Eyes so full and laughter so wide,
something precious in her perception.

Walking hand in hand,
initiating exception, lighting the dark,
igniting the spark.

Games - written 2005

Are you playing with that ball right now?
Can I take it? Please, I didn’t want it when
you had no interest in it, but I want it now.
When you had no interest in it, I didn’t want it.

Someday, you will feel as I feel. You will
feel the weight of a thousand jealousies
and the weight of a thousand laughing faces
and the weight of nobody at all, the heaviest weight of all.

It doesn’t matter until it becomes a problem.
We can be slapdash and carefree,
laughing under a laughing sun and crying
under pouring clouds and everything as it should be.

What if something goes wrong?
What if the sun never shone or the clouds never rained
or the bully never bullied or the rich
never downtrod the poor – and some lucky soul got,
well, lucky?

What if nothing was there, something was there,
then nothing was there?
What if that something didn’t even care?

A brightly coloured ball rises in the air.

Rage In Fashion On Page Seven - written 2005

Page after page of rage etched
in perfume and gloom in the middle
of the previous week.

He’s changed his plea, he’s made
his way, he’s under the kosh and
beating off bricks

Dig deeper and see where it
leads you. Experience the deep blue,
dive and swim.

Your heart will guide you there,
you’ll understand, and actions become
more important than words.

Girls, boys, stabbings and robberies
by men with gristle - headlines and
assumptions - and darling, we love you.

New Order - written 2002

The soft smell of rain and
the chasing of men. Strands
of golden embers flicked
and toyed and corrected.

Dressing to impress, he
looks like a motorcycle.

In a silent way,
in a new order.

You see through my dress of
water.

Untitled - written 2002

in silver rain, glum heads shaking,
slung mud sticking, babies wailing
– wind keeps on blowin’ and it’s the middle
month of summer

a boy gets kissed and tightly held,
a girl gets turned and twisted round
water gets raised – dance on, dance on,

dance on a shining light in the dark country
it happens every day – somewhere,
in some way.

The Girl With The Sun In Her Eyes - written 2002

A girl created a world
in her head that held the dead
and I met her there

Corduroys, daffodils,
black suit and tie - and a dress
that looks best in summer

A clashing of teeth,
a beating of hearts, and a
sending of best wishes

What happened to me,
where I am?
But of course, this is you -
you saved me.

A remarkable feat of imagination
keeps me breathing –
I look for you.

Everywhere the windows show the children smiling, and
everywhere the windows are closed, and everywhere
the windows are your eyes, and everywhere I
see my reflection and everywhere I am
captivated by a soul

I fell into a lovingly beating hole.
I fell into eyes of green, eyes of black,
eyes of blue – I will always hold onto
this memory of you

Eyes so beautiful - nature becomes you.
You are nature, you are life, you are something
nobody will ever understand - you are being held
in my arms

HUGGING - written 2002

When words fail and heaviness of the heart takes hold
When memories come back like unwelcome guests
When a bird sings in the sky, and it’s there, singing,
but nothing can lessen your burden

When the clothes come out a misty grey, and the
weather becomes an ominous day
When your face stops smiling, and I see you there,
I feel the same way.

When winter comes and everything’s cold,
let’s warm ourselves by fire
When words fail and heaviness takes hold,
let’s hug ourselves higher.

NOT NOTICEABLY TALLER THAN ANYONE - written 2002

The roads were wider, you towered above me
as I clung by your apron strings.

A leaf in spring is not noticeably older than anything,
and I am not noticeably taller than anyone.

From a height, look down on me -
I lack a certain dignity

A mass of pulsating tissue and muscle
worn on my sleeve, would not really please...

My torso is small, my legs are small
but my heart is hidden from view - obviously

I crawl along mud, underneath everyone
See! See me here, i've spiders in my hair!

A leaf floats through the autumn air
I am not noticeably taller than anyone.

THE SILENT WOMAN - written 2002

You have another tattoo,
Though I see, some have faded.
How are you? Come here.

Shall we go somewhere,
or stay right here?
I'll put some music on

Spooked shadows are cast
Across my heart I feel inapt
The organ swirls in madness

How are you? Come here.
Kiss me, my black rose -
it seems impossible

I love you more than breathing
Don't fall away from living
I can see that you are hurting...

No, don't speak. Please.
Just let us stay, together,
by the grey light of stars

Planets seem further away -
The moon will protect us,
though I see, it has faded.

COLLECTING STARS FROM A STREAM - written 2002

Collecting stars from a stream
Collecting dreams from the sea
The sunlight is fading but you are with me.

The bank is quite muddy so watch where you sit
You can sit on top of me and I do mean that nicely!
We can fish for the future and scoop up the river
The stars are so many and I’m sure we’ll be happy

The moon will be full and your face is so pretty
The stars are so many and the choices are plenty
I have difficulty breathing properly

Collecting stars from a stream
Collecting dreams from the sea
The sunlight is fading but you are with me

LIKE AN OLD LADY IN CHURCH - written 2002

I don’t mosh. For those of you who are
Unfamiliar…to ‘mosh’ is to jump, push,
shove, leap and punch – all in the middle of

a sweaty, shaven haired rock crowd.
I don’t mosh. I stand at the side, shouting
and screaming. Singing. My voice is terrible!

Fortunately, the music is so loud,
no one can hear me scream.
It’s funny. In real life I’m too scared to

scream. I was told to go away. I wasn’t
wanted. The people I hated were loud
people. So I became quiet. Naturally.

I don’t mosh. The people who mosh all have
girlfriends. I don’t mosh. I’m too inhibited
and passionate. The passion coursing through

my veins. My eyes are wide open, match-stick
wide. My mouth is open, screaming…
No one can hear me.

'SMUDGE' - written 2001

The purring is intolerable!
The purring is too loud!
Why can’t you be quiet
When the Casbah is rocked
And a Catfish climbs a tree
And the colourful clothes you wear
Are removed and the firmament
Is rose tinted?

Where are my glasses?
Where is the Cat?

Oh, it’s right here,
Sat besides me and you
And looking more beautiful
Than both to jaundiced eyes

This thing they call sex?
This thing?

I love you dearly, sweet thing.

LONELY SEA - written 2001

there will be no more you and me
and I will drown in a lonely sea

there will be no more laughter or tears
just a dead weight tied to my belly

there will be no more living to be done
because you were my sun that shone

i love you still, wherever you have gone

SUMMER CAULDRON - written 2001

fire burning through the sky
the air is alight with crystalline sweat
foliage gives off strange vibes
and the people are undressed

looking the other way, of course
that man has only a crown of hair
that woman looks like a horse
and that girl is only half there

gas fumes line the horizon
women stick out their chests
men try not to smell
and try to look their best

a season of summer cauldron
though the rain will return
and friendships be forgotten
during the seasons turn

A NATURAL ONE - written 2001

Nobody wants to read of love
or relation!

And where are the words in Latin?
Why cannot you be Slovenian?

Where is the angle and the position?
Where is your Iambic precision?

The boy replies, a twinkle in his eye,
'I write for Catherine.'

'Her hair is all I see, deep red and brown,
shining under a sun's caress. Eyes
like sparklers in a full languishing sky.
I make sheep's eyes, unfalteringly.'

'Endearingly clumsy,
I believe she understands.'

AS SIMPLE AS THAT - written 2001

a sadness shared is a sadness shared,
it's as simple as that.

you can choose to ignore me, you can
choose - please do.

you can stand before me with your
eyes out-stretched

you can leave and send me
sliding back

it's as simple as that

DISSAPOINTED - written 2001

it took all that journey to discover what I knew
five minutes after I met you

CELEBRATE - written 2001

sleep so attractive now

lay down still
pull the landscape over me

no more lies are spoken and no
more shall my heart fall away

waking seems a foreign holiday

SEND MY LOVE IN A LETTER - written 1997

I’ll give you a ring
I’ll post you my heart
So we’ll never be apart

I’ll spread my legs wide –
Walk a thousand miles

To see you smile

I’ll comb my hair
And brush my clothes

I’ll even wear dungarees
If you really find them sexy

I’ll post you my heart
So we’ll never be apart

Send my love in a letter
To make you feel better

CONVERSATION - written 1997

Gorgeous
Well, now you know
It’s gorgeous
Buurrrp
Oh God!
I can’t believe it’s only two
I got this catalogue
It’s got these binoculars
Very good

May I hit my head on that glass?
Do you like my hat?
It’s horrid
It’s pretty cool

I won’t wear this T-shirt again
It’s immaculate

SUNNY AFTERNOON - written 1997

The sun was so bright it was like the reflection of the watch of
some higher being

The sound that was heard was the sound of individuals passing
by shop windows

A man whom in all probability wasn’t Spanish was playing
guitar in Spanish

A woman was shouting about a special offer and goody bag
with the days newspaper

A man was sitting down smoking in the light and judging a
beauty contest

The ride, the main attraction, was living – passing through
and surviving

The sun was so bright it was like the reflection of the watch of
some higher being

Seeing the carnival in town and laughing at some joke she half
remembered

CAT FRIEND CHARLIE - written 1997

Two moons stare out of the gloom
Cat son, number one
A panda in the living room

No sound other than a distant engine
Roar three streets away
Black and white movie on the TV

I stroke the great detective moustache!
You waft your nose collecting clues
You perform a great send off

FAIRGROUND - written 1997

There was a sound like the end of the world being
celebrated. There was music and much dancing and laughter.
There were men with shaved heads and women with
tight fitting tops. There was me with legs just feeling like I’d had
sex. I’d been lonely in a crowd, swung upside down at high
speed and been sick upon. There was a ghost train that was less
scary than the inside of my brain. A hot dog stall that made me
feel sick and a picture of an American woman in a bikini that
made me feel sick. There was a man’s bottom that aroused my
attention. There was my girlfriend, with eyes so sad but a happy
smile and I hugged her.

We walked away from the ride with wobbly legs, reminded of
sex, and we smiled at each other. We walked to the park and
laughed at the goats hiding from the rain. The mud was like a
farm, and we drank tea in a dirty café. We had our fortunes read
and I knew my fortune was right next to me, and that she was

We walked through the fair like a couple of old women
remembering how to have fun.

We went on rides and we had some.

LOVE YOU - written 1997

You chase me through fields of imagination, pin me down
and undress me.

The gift of sun shall warm our tingling bodies; my body
tingles by itself.

I shall unknowingly purr in your ear with a whisper whilst
we love, and you shall interpret my whisper as love.

We should be arrested for indecency, for the sky is a public
blanket, and the grass a public bed.

We should want to stay in each other, and the other should
never be dead.

And at that time, I would not see as others see, but as God
sees, and the sea sees, and all of nature sees.

I would feel so different to my usual feeling, and I would not
be scared.

Your eyes would sparkle like birds, and your face change in
a different light to be as soft as the day it was born.

And my unspoken love would be spoken; my secret love
would be real, and be gentlemanly, and caringly never
trouble you.

And I would certainly love you.

GOLDEN - written 1997

I could hold you or cradle you
Twinkling eyes painting your face
I could fully embrace you
Tell you I love you without words

Everything and nothing would change
Hand holding in the rain
Star gazing in the sunshine
If only you would be mine

THE BEST INSANITY - written 1997

All the best meat, all the best drink
A selection of reading matter
A delicious jet black chocolate bar
A sticky sweet as it should be

Service with a smile, he smiled as he served
He bent and stooped and looked around,
and we all tried not to notice him
rooting around in the dustbin outside our home

The clouds were oh so beautiful to him
The slight breeze announcing summer was thrilling
Our daughter left a bottle of gin
and we secretly sort of adopted him

A NIGHT IN - written 1997

The way you played piano
Pretty fingers dancing
I cried inside and smiled
Moved beyond speaking

Shall I build a collection of jazz greats?
My mind is surely moving
Body shaking and swaying
To the sounds that fill me

Smoky night in a fancy club
Your eyes didn’t sparkle or shine
They became my focus of vision
They meant everything

So I shook your hand, my heart stood on end
It was the beginning of the end
but I remember you now

A persisting melody
A memory haunting me

A CERTAIN SOMEONE - written 1997

If I won the lottery I would give you my money
If I was a bee-keeper I would give you honey

I would act as lip-balm to soothe your lips
Qualify as a doctor, examine your every crevice!

Throw down my coat over your puddle
I would be your coat in times of trouble

Love you as you are, be your certain someone
I would smooth your frown or be no-one

‘DESIRE’ - written 1996

A white heat flash as he cycles past
He does so every day at around this time

I wish he were mine

‘JUST A KISS’ - written 1996

If that’s just a kiss
Then I’m the queen
If that’s just a hug
Then I’m in a dream
If this is just sex,
Then I’m green,
And I’m not green,
I’m in love with you

Just a kiss from your cherry red lips
Just a sultry smile, keeps me going a while
Just your body against mine, makes everything fine –
And it’s always fine when I’m with you

I hope our love keeps death at bay,
Just a kiss, has all this to say

‘IN BED’ - written 1996

A curved shadow in the darkness
Next to me, touching me
Warm and comforting me

I never want to leave this darkness
This magnificent darkness that
Lights up my soul

‘THE FIRST TIME’ - written 1996

It was the first time
The time I had dreamed about
It was funny, it was silly
So very magical. It was the making of me
The day I became a man at last
The first time, the greatest time

It all started one Saturday
Her unsure, uncertain of what she was doing
And me who wouldn’t say boo to a mouse

We sat and started kissing
Every kiss an expression of our love
We kissed for an age
I think we got a little carried away

Things progressed
We tried to undress each other
Tearing at each others clothes
Waiting to see what lay beneath
The undiscovered continent

Events duly progressed
The dirty deed was done
We both smiled and loved
Loved for the first time

We got up and went for a walk
Everyone staring at this startling couple in love
This strange boy sitting in heaven
This radiant girl

It was the first time
It was the best time

‘UNION IN THE SNOW’ - written 1996

Covered in snow your face glows
Covered in snow your arms clutch to mine
Covered in snow, splashing and playing on
A white icing cake, covered in snow

I’ve seen your face but rarely as ace as this
‘Valentines Day’ kneeling in the icing
‘Will You Marry Me?’
Splashing tears upon a cheek
Melting the snow even if it takes all week
I kneel in the icing dying to kiss you
Hold you and marry you
Covered in snow, in sunshine
In rain and wind, in everything

‘HOLLOW’ - written 1996

A dark and grey night followed me
As we decided to go out and I
Became every word you said

I am built on straw,
Nothing substantial,
So I needed you
I fought dehydration, but brought the
Desert with me, but you said you
Wanted a drink so it rained

You said you wanted a tan,
Cloud gave way to sunshine
And you browned

You said I should be cheerful
So I was, and night
Became day

I am built on straw, without
You I’d be blown
Away

‘NO ONE LIKE HER’ - written 1996

A girl called George
I dropped my jaws
I stopped feeling poor
And went out the door
I searched high and low
But found no one like her

I cried
Trod in the snow
Crisp and cool
Salt and vinegar flavour
Out of favour
Georgeless

'DEIDRE'S CAT' - written 1996

I’m getting hungry
My fur is all mangled
The dog tried to strangle me

I’m getting hungry
I hope Deirdre gets home soon
‘Moonbeams’ she’ll say
‘Moonbeams’

She’ll pick me up and wrap me against her bosom
And I’ll be all warm and cosy

She’ll uncoil my hair and she’ll feed me

God is called Deirdre

‘SAD SWEET DREAMER’ - written 1996

Oh sad sweet dreamer, don’t dream
Get into the real world
Get some sun onto your lily-white features
And do some physical exercise,
A sport perhaps

Your problem is you spend too much time indoors
Sad sweet dreamer replies, ‘Up Yours!’

Album Reviews | Beginners Guides | CD List | CD Store/Shop | Best Of 2009 | Magazine/Blog
Listening Post | Message Board | Features/Articles | Music Review Sites | Poetry | Ratings At A Glance
Readers Comments | Shorts & Promos | Singles Bar | Top 100 Albums | Updates/New