Candles

I’ve seen people dying

incrementally

believe me

folk are soluble

and they can fade away

sometimes people die

very suddenly

believe me

folk are fragile

and can break so easily

and people simply vanish

unexpectedly

believe me

folk can disappear

without a bye or leave

Societal Disease

I started on the razzle

out of my fucking head

stumbling blindly onward

where angels feared to tread

but I didn’t fade away

I hung on by a thread

while the ladies of the parish

furnished me with bread

I had bills I couldn’t pay

and a monkey to appease

but that kind of generosity

meant I didn’t freeze

the truth is I was crawling

on my bloody knees

I was just another victim

of societal disease

Solitary Confinement

unscheduled hallucinations
and psychotic interludes
plagued my formative
and shaped my destination
my beat bastard subscription
lapsed before endorsement
but I wish I could lie down
take a fucking telling
I’m so tired right now
I could drag the world with me
through dark corridors
to the great panopticon
where elastic promises
and suicidal compacts
are made by strange bedfellows
there are no
casual acquaintances
in solitary confinement

Blood Rite

I’m all jelly bone

and knee tremble

my brothel creepers

and crepe soul

slick with anticipation

tomorrow

is another

creosote sundae

but tonight

is a total eclipse

of reason

I bide my time

spilling my oats

on barren ground

to be washed away

in the menstrual cycle

my instruments

calculate trouble

word gets around

there are no secrets

in monkey town

Sundowners

don’t kid yourself
you know these people
just cause they button up
the same way you do
they got secrets to cash
and monkeys to feed
by day they hone
their grievances
forge alliances
and swear their oaths
as playground innocents
but at night
they are a different
species of stupid
when their kamikaze hearts
spur them to perform
localised atrocities
of obscene and banal
dimensions

Liars

you taught my tongue some tricks
I can weave real eloquently now
with a winning smile
and a twinkle in my eye
I've even fooled myself at times
we all want to believe in something
we all want to trust in someone
but I don't even trust myself
I'm dirty as the thirty pieces of silver
that secured my ounce of solid soul
and as deep as the phony veneer
that fails to conceal my corruption
so, ask me no questions
and ditch the disguise
save us both the effort
of more graceless contortions
as we make our goodbyes
.

My Friend

they persecuted him

because they could

because it’s easy

to close your mind

to the different

and he was different

he was a peacock

amidst vultures

he was a libertine

in the company of slaves

he was a shooting star

who burned too brightly

and he was my friend

when there was no other

.

flightless

I met a man

who was fighting 

his shadow

he was dull inside

and dead as a dodo

he spoke in tongues
strangely familiar
first languid
and then rabid
in a paralytic dialect
of mumbles and grunts
cunt was a drooler
a mewling loser
dredging an ocean
of heartfelt regrets
and bitter recriminations
he'd traded his allocated
ounce of solid soul
for the draught of oblivion
and I’ve seen his face before
in some distant mirror
but I don't know him
he's nothing to me
so show that bum the door

before he spills another drink

and then cries out for more

Loner

she had those absinthe eyes

set in a fragile waifish dial

she possessed a laddish wit

that always made me smile

we were never really lovers

but we fucked once in a while

.

no, we were drinking buddies

and were seldom sober

but we were never truly close

because at heart she was a loner

and I wonder what became of her

when our escapades were over

.

The Nice

I had long since

abandoned hope

of ever forging

a masonic

connection

but had made

quiet inroads

amidst the nice

I could never

be one though

dull as ditch water

the nice

even the messianic

shun the nice

besides

my mere presence

fucks with their feng shui

.

Menagerie

there was no miscalculating

it was the season of ill will

those fractious lovebirds

were broadcasting citywide

they were at the ding dong

with the usual diatribe

concerning love and validation

guerrilla tactics were involved

I had to shield my mind

from their carnal dredgings

and squirmed with embarrassment

when they mentioned my name

.

West End

the skag palaces
and liquor dungeons
of my youth
are now gastro pubs
and organic eateries
but the streets
are the same
there's a score
on every corner
flesh or drug
just name your tune
and some cunt
will dance to it
.