Dead man walking

A well-balanced gait
May be misleading: I am
Limping with both legs

3/11/11

Fallen

On this red earth world
We are distracted by
The earthly pleasures

2/11/11

Losers

The trouble is, there's too much peace
The union leader said
There's no demand for guns and planes
What can we do instead?

The trouble is, there's too much peace
The politician sighed
I can't fly in to show the flag
Reflect our national pride

The trouble is, there's too much peace
That's the phrase they use
I'm not sure that's the problem
When I read the news

27/9/11

Removals

The car waddled over the speed bumps
And entered the college car park,
Sitting low on its springs,
Weighed down with stuff
And expectations

We climbed the stairs
And saw the room -
Blank and unobjectionable,
Then ferried the awkward boxes up
Adding personality and clutter
By increments

In no time it was finished
We parted
I returned in an empty car
To an emptier house


19/9/11


[a revised and extended version of this poem appears in the new collection Removals]

Treatment

At the sex clinic
There's no appointment system:
It's first come, first served

10/9/11

All change

A child leaving home
Is a very stressful time
(for the child as well)

22/8/11

The dating game

Every one-night-stand
Always ends the same, she sighs:
The men come and go

22/8/11

Futures

Chinese lanterns soar
Taking our wishes and hopes
To unknown endings

8/8/11

Time machine

Italian cafe
Glass tables and strong coffee
50s atmosphere


28/7/11

Changeable

Two days of the heat
Is enough to remind us
Why we don't like it

27/7/11

The waters of Lethe

Grasshoppers kvetching
River runs slow and clear
Casts a drowsy spell


26/7/11

Still got it

A shop girl looks up
Steadily she meets my gaze
Then smiles a welcome


26/7/11

Gifts

The Prodigal Son
All callow thoughtlessness
Outshone his brother

Unfair or unwise
To favour the miscreant
Yet it's instinctive

We value others
For the love that we give them
Not the love returned


25/7/11

Distance

Retreating ridgelines,
Increasingly hazy, fade
Into the dusk sky

20/7/11

The parable of twilight

Midges cloud the air,

Their frantic activity

Getting them nowhere

30/6/11

Retreat

In the chapel there

Is respite: the still centre

Of the turning world

I may not believe

In God but I still can seek

The gift of His grace

All will be well, and

All will be well; all manner

Of things will be well

Just routine

We think that we have

Habits; actually habits

Have us, usually

30/6/11

Intimacy

Outside darkness falls;

We talk softly of moments

Of intense feeling

30/6/11

Summer fruit

Beneath the branches
The sheep lie in the shadow
Like windfall apples


18/6/11

Saturday morning coffee

Nutty scent of grounds
The swirling of hot water
Taste of luxury