Egg and bacon sandwich Dripping yolk and ketchup Steaming tea from an old tin boiler Condensation frosting the windows Empty streets, lit by sulphur orange Solace
Beneath all the drama All the bluster and the mustering of arms The blows and the hot hot wind The shouts and screams The glory and the tragedy The dreams and the hopes Through every act and movement Every entrance and exit grand and small After every curtain call and echo of applause Do not overlook the fact that Children died Brothers and sisters remember
It looks like the arc of the defeated The hunch of an old and tired man Worn down by time and routine Only The arc is a buttress Against the burden of life It is bent, not broken It serves its purpose well If not gracefully
Some words Are neglected Not forgotten Still in the lists Used when absolutely Necessary For example Chimney When did you last utter it? Like the object itself It’s redundant Only used When it’s a problem Sometimes I feel like a chimney
The cur Concurred That his fur was fine The Dragon Entwined, sublime Around the dog Agreed As he preened Sat on the mat. The rat Sneered as he neared A disagreed With the lead of the cur While the rooster sided with the worm His belief in showmanship firm White he strutted The tiger tutted And purred, Anticipating Waiting His chance The rabbit Twitched and hopped Unsure who To believe Whether to leave Or watch While the snake Curled around The ground Sniffing out The way ahead The monkey Puzzled And guzzled his beer Coming near Without seeing While the swine Less divine Fed Its stomach, not its head And the bull Forged on Sure and strong One way forward The stallion danced And when they glanced Gave a show While the goat’s Step Slow and sure Kept time And amidst them all Nothing That had a clue
When the oppressors Flaunt Their power When they laugh Not in their sleeves But in your face As they take And cut And take some more Chuckling On their beds of gold And thrones of power When their hands are tightest On the flow Of information Disinformation And lies They feel the safest The strongest That Is The time To strike
The mallet Ancient tool Held by many hands Down through the ages Hands of skill and experience Worn and hardened By labour and care Now Resigned to Tent pegs and vampires
Come on you loons You warrior poets You insane ranters Crank it up! Give us your ideas! Give us your brains! Break the mould Break the world So it can be remade Better
We brave explorers together Wearing imitation leather And as silent as a feather We toiled through the darkest weather onto our prize
Through mountains and valleys, we walked By tigers and lions were stalked And as brave as we always talked There came a time when we just baulked against the size
Of the hunger in our bellies Off with our explorer wellies Broke out the ice cream and jellies And retreated to the telly’s noisy comfort
Permit me to speak Permit me to say The truth of our lives Maybe if we shared The healing could begin We could escape The electronic cage If we listened If we did
The dominant theme Of the modern movement Is just that To dominate To be the best No second place No room for losers Crush them Squeeze them dry That is the song Of our age We seem to sing it With joy
Sunny She was And the shadows she cast were long We long for her Now the winter is here And the long long night descends Bright was her smile White and bright her smile Deep and black her skin And we wanted in From afar Memories of sun In the dusk
Bird on a branch Are you resting Are you watching The world below The people rushing here And there Along their crowded roads With all their forks and cul de sacs Fly on little bird Fly on
Oh For a restart button A ctrl-alt-del For some days Some situations Sometimes For life Must be the geek in me I want to switch it all off And back on again
Plainsong Rolling, chanting Granting the air a form Bestow shadow and light purpose Singing The crafting of ancient wisdom To bear us something new Brightly shining Lyric
Where is the litmus test? The assay Of our leaders Mettle Why must I strive To prove My worth When they Enjoy No scrutiny In their ancient Empty halls With their ancient Empty way
Stars sparkle Planets shine Celestial bodies far from reach The solars tantalise Go for the shiners Whose light is constant The stars will ever taunt you