Poetry

Saturday, 14 February 2026

Forty something

 I'm over forty

I've got Dr Wolff at my door

Howling out he's got a cure

For my grey hair


I'm over forty

Now I'm a victim of time and fate

If I wasn't before

Well now there's no time to wait


You see my father was over forty

Before I turned naughty

You see he is behind a bullet proof glass plate

And history always comes to those too late


They tell me to inject caffeine in my pores

They tell me to believe in the male menopause

Well I believe, I have no cause, it goes

The same with Santa Clause

But I don't remember anyone getting on his case

About his over rosy cheeks, rotund belly

Or beardy white fakes

Why didn't he ever use Just for Men?

I suppose they wouldn't trust any dark haired strangers

Coming undercover down chimney ranges

Probably would have burnt him in the grate

Than suffer the indignity of a milk tray lover

Whose cover's blown as is his sperm count of late

But as I say I'm an over forty victim of fate


I'm an over forty son of

A man who's over eighty

Who's father never run the clock so late

But you can't say I've begun to hate

I still feel love could come by my gate

And we'd meet

At number 28b

 or not 28B

Two score and twenty four blackbirds

Baked in a pie,

on Pigeon street

And don't be late

Thursday, 12 February 2026

Valentines

 It's when you love the wrong woman

Valentines is a traitor's heart

broken in two

Pieces of a queen's tart

Lay it on thick

Holding all the cards

She's ready to take their heads

Queen of broken hearts 

How I wish you were dead


I thought I loved a woman

But in fact I loved the wine

That's where thinking gets you

Thinking, such a waste of time

Back in Blighty

 Returning to old blighty

It feels oh so mighty

With it's castles and mists

And memories of being kissed

In the dams and caravans

In the Springs and the Wells

Where I sprung a Welsh leek

And held a Scottish thistle

And the teacher blew their whistle

And I ran to pick up the sandbag

And I can't run anymore

I've been run down

Until I'm sore

Primary school against the wall

Counting down

Turning around

Looking for the wolf

He's always at your back

Ready to attack

Coming back to good old blighty

What a mighty time we had

But who are the good

And who the bad

How can we forget?

How can we ever be sad

Except what else do you do here

Kiss the salty sand

Wait for one gland after another to pack up

Take up the slack and bear the share

The burden

It's no curtain to draw

No blanket of sack cloth to wear

Nothing is for certain

It's all fair

Love and war

You've been trained for

Ever since you grew up

In good old blighty

They train you to be mighty

Have a mighty heart

And to save the ones you love

For you to play your part

They told you how to live

How to run the game

How to take and how to give

And how to feel love and shame

And that's why blighty's in your bones

That's why you are always called home

But that's why you must escape the chrome

Nelson, the brass buckles

The shining buttons and waistcoats

The statues in museums

You saw history through

Like a peach black wind through hair

But love was a cummerbund

Of your joy and despair 

Tuesday, 10 February 2026

A good boat

 She's a good boat, she's a good boat

She's a very good boat to me

I like her lines

I like her curves

I'd walk her planks

But I'd always swerve

She's a good boat for me


I want to row right onto her ocean

It's like she's the vessel of my emotion

She carries me oft, hard or soft

Let the waves lash or the winds us blow off

Course, of course

I'll hold her straight, because I'm tied to her fate

She's a good boat, she's a good boat for me

I think we could float on the raging sea

She's a good boat, she's a good boat

She's a good boat for me


Monday, 9 February 2026

like bombshells falling on windmills

 Like butterflies' eyes

Falling eyelashes from the skies

Like bombshells falling on windmills

Like sky thrills filling

The windowsills

With sly shys, with nice guys

And dolls

And ice cold

souls

Like bombshells

falling on windmills

Gravity lane

 Gravity lane

Fallin down

Down on my luck again

In gravity lane


Wishing well quarter

I threw a dime in the water

Gravity pulled me in

I forgot how to swim

Won't you pull me out

I don't wanna drown

In the town 

where it rains 

forever and a day

Down gravity's lanes


Gotta walk on the moon

I'm gonna leap pretty soon

It's gonna be like a swoon

But it might take me til June


Cos here gravity's thick

Just like your lipstick

And I could float on your lips

Only your rip tide rips

And gravity pulled me down

Don't wanna wear this crown

It's heavy as horns

My little crown of thorns

So won't you tear it off

I love you hard not soft

But I can't wear your cloth

It drags me down to earth

And I need to be free

Cos I'm made of gravity



Sunday, 8 February 2026

The phases of the moon

She I can't follow

Up and down like a yoyo

There's the new moon

Better let her know now


She, I can't follow

Silver thread to her bed

The Waning Crescent

She's the lady in red


She, I can't follow

I'm like a rainbow on the blink

The Third quarter 

She gives me a wink, I think


She, I can't follow

Her summer swallow

The Waning gibbous

Her wax wings I kiss

In her wax work museum


And the full moon

Was I a loon crying at noon?

Was it a neap tide

Was she a true bride?

Had she lied? We all lie

It's just the phases of the moon

It's only true at that time


The waxing gibbous 

She was melting like a candle

Too hot to handle

I never tried


The first quarter hid us

Occluded from the light

I saw a polaroid flash

I saw a polar bear dash

Across a wire and I didn't care


The Waning crescent slid

Down our throats

Like a lemon slice

Like a glass of wine it disappeared

Brought into focus

The sharp taste

Bitter as leaving your lover

And that's how I follow her

like the phases of the moon




Saturday, 7 February 2026

After the glitter had fallen

 After the glitter had fallen

The ball had stopped spinning

The music turned off

The costumes were hanging on their hangers

The models had danced their socks off


After the manikins of bodkins

Had scaled the omphalos of night

After the slim ones, the trim ones

Had returned their souls to the light


After their bodies and shoddies 

Had shouldered their blames and their shames

After the love of their eyes had smouldered

In their ear's last refrain

After their mouths had powdered and chowdered 

and lisped their clasps undone

Then I knew that I was older, but not

colder for the sun had still shone


As the hall let down its decorations

Like a dog shaking off

As a christmas tree moults its needles

So spring crept into our midst

And winter was a burnt out candle

That really no one could handle or miss

Still I knew I was a vandal for the words

I'd used when instead I should've kissed


Yet Jesus still lay on the cross

And Mary Magdalene cried at his feet

And all the holy wine had cost

The word forgiveness spread on the street

Lily

 C I give you all my love, F Lily

G I give it to you for C free

C I'll give you all my love, GLily

F Yes, your heart is the C key

C I'll give you all my love F Lily

G Without you F I'm all at sea

G Oh so give me all your love

C Lily


C I've seen you like a dove G

F In my dreams, in my C dreams

C I've seen you like a dove

G Who I've set free

C And though you're G flying away

F I know you can'tG stay

C But still I'll give you all my love

G Lily


C I've seen the stars shine G above

F And held your hand, C I held your hand

C I've seen the diamonds sparkle

F like jewels in the sand

G And you are quite remarkable

C Oh yes, my little miracle

G I'll give you all my love

C Lily

Reused love

 I used to love you

Like an American loves Paris

I used to love the allure

The romance of you

But now I am embarrassed

Because all you ever were was a false messenger

You told me straight , but I never believed

You loved not him but her


I used to love you

Perhaps I still do

Just like I love a mountain

I've seen while passing through

But now I don't want to walk up its paths

I don't wish to explore the view

I used to love you

But now I'm sure 

it's not true


You did nothing wrong

That was my thing, I felt too strong

It wasn't you but me

I loved someone who was

already free

I thought I'd save you, but he

He has been a slave to you

And you to he

It's not that I see a golden cart come round the corner

With all the promises you made to him

Look like a pyramid, but taller

I think you lied to yourself

That's all and I came along for the order

You served me a dish of cold radishes

And expected nothing but a mourner

Well I can't be sad when your relationship has died

Because in my eyes it was all lies

no matter how hard you've tried

If you think I'll mop up the pieces

Or offer pity to those who have cried

I couldn't be the man in that city

So lonely that I could have died

You've used and abused his love

He's used up now and you've sucker punched

The blues out of him

While he's mourning his system

Of doubts, and about that he's listing

Just look at the way you have kissed him

The back of the neck

Like you're paying his cheque

You better bet that it was love you missed in him

I cannot love you, I'm disgusted by this betrayal

It's all just a home movie portrayal

Of love gone awry

But I'm an honest guy

I'll tell you, I can't stand to see this low railing

It's better to kill him than help him

If you love me, then there's no sense in the whelping

He's a beaten dog, let him lie with the hogs

I have no more pity than is self effacing

I love you still it seems, but it's physical

It's not what it means

I'd love to be close to you

To know and play host to you

But the most of you

Is the tail end of what's been


If you pass her by

 If you pass by my love

Tell her it's she

I've been thinking of

If you pass by, if you pass by my love


I won't pass by your love,

I won't pass by your love

It is all I can do

To try and stop thinking about you

Oh I won't pass by your love

She loves you not

 She loves you,

She doesn't love you

I'm just another piece of meat

In the street

She loves you like a cider apple

Bitter sweet

She loves, she doesn't love you

Bitter sweet


How can the moon rise

How can it turn into nothingness

Before your very eyes

She loves you

She loves you not

Just like the knot in the noose

She loves you, she loves you not

Just like the cards fallen

Played out of suit


I am just a game to her

One she cannot lose

Because I am no flame to her

Just another guy who hangs too loose

will the winds blow her away

Will she peel the end of love

I wish she would die and go away

I have no more love to use

Wednesday, 4 February 2026

The ventricle I left

 It was the ventricle I left

The same one I had no right

To be in

I was lost in your heart

Bereft


I turned down a one way street

Going against the flow

Your heart beat to my feet

But no further could I go


The city's hustle and bustle

Was too much for me

A busful of fat tourists

Looking for Cathedrals

And Vaults, Crypts and Mausoleums

Just nothing of the mournful museums


I left the chambers of commerce

I left the hallowed halls

I left all my promises

Behind the bars of prison walls


I kept visiting the prisoner

But my words felt hollow

I kept my vigil

In arteries, that led to capillaries

In chrysalis that hung like carcasses

In cold stores of the heart

But the butcher came out

And asked me what I wanted to eat

He said you can eat your heart out

But I ain't giving you no free meat


I had to pay on credit

I've got an account at the heart foundation

But I left the ventricle

Ashamed by my humiliation

I should have had the courage

To go in and ask for what I wanted

But I've always waited to be given

When others deem me daunted

Yet to be a rich man owning a city

To be a working man making a living

What can discourage you? Need no pity

To walk like a rooster, ready and willing

To bet it all, on a game of chance

No to given nothing except a dance

In the hall of the second glances

In the tower of freelances

Waiting to free the maiden of work

From the fell clutches of her enslaver

The dragon of capitalist return

The serpent of endeavour

The vacuum of a worthless worm

Who has ensnared her

Monday, 2 February 2026

My sink overfloweth with love

 Like the sea and the sand

Like the river and the land

We go together hand in hand

Hold me forever, I'll be your man


Give over, the shoulder, leg of lamb

It's a lamb to the slaughter

Water on the lam

Water daughter never taught her

How to stay close at hand

She always ran off from the land


I'm a king of fishes, I'm a fisher of kings

I'm making wishes I don't how to begin

Leave me in the lake

Let me drown, I think it's a mistake

That I wear this crown

Will you hold my life in your hands?

It's like water through the holes

Like using a sieve to catch sand


I've been borrowed before

I've cut and run

I've bet it all on a ball

Or a roulette hand

Show me how to fall

Let me tear it all down

I can't hear your call

Now I'm a wanted man

Right in the heart

 There was a time when waters flowed

When feet tapped to the drummer's art

When people danced and bands played

When rivers ran right in the heart


When church bells tolled

When markets stalled

When children schooled

Right in the heart


There was a time when snow drops sprang

When church bells rang

When prison's cart

And so when men believed

In nation's pride right in the heart


Right in the heart the spirit sprang

The choirs sang

The sun rays dart

When skies brighten as dark clouds depart

And future's form in solid gold

Moulded in, right in the heart


And on palisades, or in rocky glades

where cider's made, a cunning craft

Where times have changed

But some things remained

Because they stayed right in the heart


The Amulet, and church a couplet

A twin, like chalk and cheese

So far from each other's trouble

But in a bubble of cider's seas

And the bubble burst

All the thirst was scattered seeds

So gather up and sow again

In fertile earth

The rain will fall, new life it calls

will spring forth out of the dark

As things must turn right before the dawn

And kindle fire right in the heart



Friday, 30 January 2026

Provisional license to kill

I'm trying to find an enemy

It's the first time

But I've crossed too many lines

To ever go back

I'm learning to kill

But I don't want to turn black

She gave me a look

With her assassin's eyes

As I was chasing her across

The rooftop of the skies


Now I'm falling back down to earth

She shot me with a bullet from birth

Gave me a birthmark that glows in the dark

And I'm dying in her arms of mirth


They gave me a provisional license to kill

I'm a beginner in this love game

I never knew where to shoot her

And I need to practice my aim


I think I'm caught in her cross hairs

Because I can't remember my name

And when she interrogates me

I'm at a loss there

I say I'm only an agent for hire

I'm only a soldier of fortune

Seeking my fortune and fame


I dropped the document with the names of

All those other double crossing agents

She found it she took my statements

Is it true lies you can tell your torturers?

Is there anywhere left you can hide?

You can't stay dead your whole life

You've got to learn to hunt with a knife


I got a provisional license to kill

But I kept crashing and burning

There was nothing left in the thrill

The only thing I can do is keep learning

Monday, 26 January 2026

Chim cheroo sperm whale

 Sperm whale, sperm whale

Your frothy white foam

Stuck in the foam

White frothy foam

All there of, when they find they've got off

With their brothers and sisters

There's so many replicas of thee

I'll have to go back the sperm whale sea


Sperm whale, sperm whale

Where do you roam

Spreading your sperm all over the sea

You've made me a

Hoping to spread as far as can be


If the world's a lesbian

What would we be

A lesbian leviathan so deep in the sea

Only

to beat the beat at the sperm whale bank

Oh sperm whale, sperm whale where do you wank?

I've got you to thank you

The scan came back and it was all black and blue

Did you do it with a blue whale?

Oh well who knew

You've given your sperm out

And cast your net wide

Could it be your own daughter

Is even your bride?


I wish you would keep it

Inside your pants

But Sperm whale, sperm whale

Have you never heard of chants

I shall not ejaculate into the ocean

There are plenty more fish in the sea

 


Sperm whale, sperm whale oh where can you be

Searching the Aegean

The island of Lesbos

Hoping for yes woman to say yes boss

Putting these children inside of me

Did you do it on purpose with a porpoise

I'd like to know why you smile at me

And be my husband 

With incestuous children


Sperm whale where did you go

I heard a little secret all about you

That you've fathered ten thousand cetaceans

In a dozen different blue oceans

And now I don't know who's a cousin

of me

Just because you're a lesbian leviathan

It doesn't give you the right

to turkey baste my father and bring me to life

Sperm donor sperm donor where are you are roaming

beware of the whale who's always a homing


Around the isle of Lesbos

You had your way with a dolphin

And a right whale the wrong way round

The frothy sperm of the Dauphin

Who where's the frothy white crown

Jerking off a sperm whale

There's already too many

May as well have a sperm sale

Of the cetacean century


Sperm whale, sperm whale

did you take off your clothes

And do it with a dolphin

Who had a bottlenose?


Did you try with a hammer head

Or wasn't she your type

Oh tell me is there anywhere

Your willy hasn't wiped?


I heard even you'd danced in the dark

With a tiger, a great white, even a nursing shark

So many babies in so many seas

And I'm even one of them

Oh whoopey for me 


Sperm whale, sperm whale

Your genetics are skewed

And now they're spread far and wide

Because of how much you've screwed


Killer sperm

Humpback sperm

Your sperm to the left of me

 and your sperm to the right

They'll be nothing left of me

But many more mouths that bite

There's a gps signal lost

As the sperm whale cruises down the coast

Looking for his next victim

For him to inject himself in

The Sperm whale loves to boast

Trains in Spain

 The trains in Spain

Crash mainly on the plain

Now why is that?

The dragon in my chimney

 Time is rotting space away

I wish I could stay

time is a rabble


There's a dragon in my chimney

Saving face at break of day

I wish I could stay

But I have to travel


Peaches and nectarines

Summer fruit from afar

And I am an equestrian

Person standing at the bar


The bores and the idiots

Have removed to mars

But the floating cool ones

Oh those who make life

Look easy, oh those endlessly

Confident and interesting

When Spanish runs out

But never the stout


Oh to be among that number

When the saints come marching in


Comedy

 Sat through a comedy

It's all such a fucking comedy

But at least they're trying to be funny

Sending themselves up on stage

Playing the fool,

It's a reason to live after all

But they weren't that funny

Even the werewolf compere

Who wasn't meant to be funny

As a foil

That somehow elevates the comedians

Above the level of the ordinary

By contrast

Even her

With her assassin's face

She looked like a Rebecca

As unreachably attractive

As any I've known

Those who know their own looks

But perhaps

That's all they have

What a low down dirty mood I'm in

The coming storm

The waiting for it

And now it's here, wet and depressing

As if it will never end

How am I meant to make light of

Weather that wants to turn you

Into a slug?

I respect them these comedians

I don't find them that funny

But I respect them