Poetry

Thursday, 2 July 2026

Seal of approval

 It was a Saturday afternoon when I heard you

You were calling from inside my wall

I thought at first how absurd to

Be stuck inside a place and then call


But of course that's what it is to be human

And I was a child once too

I climbed to the top of  an apple tree

And then didn't know how to

Climb back down for before tea

So I just waited up there for hours

Until my mother came looking for me

Then she encouraged me to climb down

The same way I got there

So I thought crow, crow what do you know

We can all get stuck in places we don't want to be

So Crow, crow what do you know

I'm going to try and rescue thee


Well it didn't work out quite like that

I actually sat down in my chair after gardening and 

Then heard it cheap cheap

I thought oh no there's a bird stuck in my chimney

What am I to do?

So I phoned up Shepton Vets

They suggested I phoned up Secret World

So I phoned up Secret World. They weren't in

So I left a message: there's a bird stuck in my chimney

Saturday afternoon about 4 pm

I should before going any further

That I've never had a fire in the fireplace

It's a rented property and they told me 

I wasn't allowed to, which I thought was unfair

I kind of see why now, but really it would be

nice to.

Anyway the chimney, I was told was sealed and

I couldn't open it. So I never tried

I never even used to come in this room

Well actually I did at first

Nice people

 Hammon was an ex dominatrix

Used to like to dominate

Now only in the Matrix

Cool dude 

Shades

Jacket like a Rapper

All wrapped up in himself

Like a Christmas Papa


Ama was a suplimatrix

But they were both really nice people


living death

 There are some things

I can't live without

Some Things slide off my spoon

And somethings I can't give any doubt

You know I want them like the moon

Oh but if you you've gotta live

Live now

Because

It's gonna be over too soon

Takeaways

 Give me the end

I want to know how it ends

Girl in the Chinese restaurant

I want to give you what you want

I want to know your name

I have a flame burning for you

The spring rolls too

Screw into the chop suey

And where am I left in

The whole milieux


I ask you how to be a writer

Send in your work

You seem to know what I'm saying

Without me needing to speak

I like that intuition

In one so young

I think we could do things together

Beyond the sun

And Another

 After some weeks of sobriety

I feel more on the level

Life lacks the variety

But I can live like a bevel

Sharper. more crystal

But life is dull as shit

And I long for losing control

Just to forget it


The fact is out of mind

Out of space away from myself

In a hidden place

It's better Ifind to have this

clarity of grace


The AA meetings were a hoot

Well they were great shares

Of dispairs and cares 

And powerful stories

Of rising up from the boot

From the bottom of nothingness

Desperation

That is the hell of an addiction

I do not wish to follow that route

So I keep shovelling coal on my stomach

To keep in suit


Windmill creak

 Corncrake by the lake

Corncrake, Corncrake

Her them quakers quake

Corncrake by the meeting house

Corncrake under the window

Where the widow weeps

Corncrake, Corncrake

Corncrake under the willow

Where the peat sleeps

I know you must be near me

For I can hear your call

But I'm trying just to 

eat my cereal

Snap crackle and pop

God save the Queen

 Oh they threatened to kill me

Oh yes they did

They said it was a mercy killing

Then they said if I didn't want to be dead

They'd put me in witness protection

Well I said that would be thrilling

I'm too tired to be witty you said

And I said I was too

But really what that did

Was kill the conversation

Because you said my stories were too long

You can die boredom if you like I said

But I'm going to finish what

I was saying to you

Then you took the gun

And pointed at my head

And you said 1 and count two

Mandy

 Oh Mandy, you came and you gave me a warning

And then you did it again

Oh Mandy then you banned me

From the academy of all your lack lustre friends

Oh Mandy pour me a shandy

I'm through with whisky and rye

Oh Mandy your artless bank needs a banksy

But he's already run dry

Oh Mandy, I'm thirsty, for the first tea

of the day in a dog worn afternoon

Oh Mandy it's like stealing candy

From a baby for you

Oh Mandy you make it look so easy

Can you teach me how you do?

Oh Mandy

After the flood

Well I couldn't wait for the rain

And now it's so dry

I want it to start again

In a biblical manner

On the bibliotech panner

I'm sifting gold nuggets from the clutter

And the debris

It washed away all I said to you

It doesn't matter

Nothing matters

Before the flood

 I can't wait for the flood

My mind is so cluttered

Like a drainpipe that's spluttered

I'm muttering things

I can't begin or end

I need a friend or a win

But I've only got sin

And I need a purge

From God's lavatory

I need to be flushed out

Of this purgatory

It's a water closet held above my head

I know someone will pull the chain

Dead ringers in the land of the dead

We're all Zombies here

We're all walking around

Like some fungus

Has affected our brains

Oh for the rains

To wash us clean

Unfinished Jerusalem

 I'm in an un-tied kingdom

It's one step above a fiefdom

The pandemic was sunny

We all dripped honey

Of good intentions

Towards one another

Because we were all in the same situation


Let off the shackles

And we're free to the rugby tackles

We have no way to relate other than

One-upmanship

I must do better than my neighbour

We must rise above in rank

Or order

We must fit back into the class

borders

Keep the King at the top

But what you need is money

Look at these whores

Go after it

Jostling for position

But I am no better am I?

I am as greedy as the next son of a bitch

Southern

 Yes we're southern

Southern chickens

Southern humans

Southern slaves


We're not northern

No we're southern

Southern living

Southern waves

Southern people

Southern ways


Give us white bread 

In the morning

Give us fried eggs

In the day

Give us white legs

Without warning

Give us brightness

Of the day


Yes, were Southern

Southern living

In the sunshine

Making hay

Come the sun down

Finds us yawning

How to rake in

What we're paid

time goes

 I don't know where it goes

I don't how it goes

I just know the river flows

From me to you

I don't know how it grows

I don't know how it shows

I just know your garden grows

In greens and blues

I don't know where it goes

I don't know how it flows

I just know time it flies

When I'm with you

Football season

 I went to sleep in a living home

And woke up oh so dead alone

The compressors switched

And whirred around

As the confessors twitched

their words were found

All used like crisp

bags in the town

I believed housed 

loved ones

But they were

lost aground

As ships the land

Had swallowed whole

Like Spring, like Summer

And my soul