Pages

2 June 2022

dreamer

 

they say that fortune favours the bold         that quiet courage wins wars          but that only love can conquer all    

I’m told pride comes before a fall      that the harder they come        the louder they bawl

I tell you that death lurks        right there in your living room        where vicarious thrills          are no thrill at all

someone once told me that life is a dream       so where does that leave me?        am I the dreamer?          or am I merely the dream?     

 

30 May 2022

puddles

 

sticky black puddles radiate       where unknown gods baptize       soft soothing words feather weight        in luxurious  and soft velvet sighs        on clouds of expelled opiate         to recombine and synthesize        soothing songs in tones sedate        tell beautiful and welcome lies

28 May 2022

woody

 

woody was an artist       he stole his supplies       from the council depot          he said he knew the score     he sketched it out for me       with red paint       and an old tooth brush      he said life was bloody        as was death       and that the old world had to die         to make room for the new       I asked him what the new world would be like     “like new”     he answered     and walked away knowingly        woody was heavily charismatic       he’d never been called an arsehole

when he’d gone I took the opportunity to scope out his latest work        it was a murderous apocalypse of a painting         it was still wet       and I got some red on my fingers        I left my incriminating prints all over the death of the old world         or was it the birth of the new?       I was a criminal in the both worlds      it seemed         this and the next

 *painting by Picasso

21 May 2022

zentacles

 

can I just say    I own this space?      I own this space      and the spaces between      the spaces between        that’s of little consequence        in the grand schemata        but it butters my scones just the same    

can I just tell you      I own this day?     I own this day         and the days between       the days between       not that it really affects       anything or anyone       beyond the scope      of my own dharma

can I just add        I own this name?      I own this name        and the other names       that I have been        stretching out into infinity        but that’s old news        of no interest to anyone       let alone me

love it all

 

they say the good outweighs the bad         I hope that’s so      because everywhere I look       I see horror and brutality     pathos and hopelessness        hatred and stupidity       but somehow        I see beauty in it all       I’ve witnessed the power of the human spirit            I have received the kindness of strangers        I have seen love triumph over despair        I sense something deeper         than the endless cycle of human miseries          and despite the blood        the tears        the anguish     and pain        I love it all just the same

the shit just hit the fan

 

jesus give this poor boy a blanket      and a place to lay his head     coz the shit just hit the fan       and tomorrow we’ll all be dead        the world is on fire       everybody’s talking about the  third world war      I don’t want to die       I don’t even know what we’re fighting for     will we plant our flags in ashes?      are ashes worth dying for?      today it’s them     tomorrow it’ll be us    so enjoy what peace you can        we’re on the eve of armageddon      coz the shit just hit the fan

19 May 2022

roll away easy

morning cracked on       I rolled away easy     a standing start     from an empty bed       more blues for breakfast       the whole caper is wearing thin    what was the catalyst      that soured the cream?        was it something she said?        she said plenty      she reckoned she was bona       and I was catfish       I didn’t want to be wanted      not in that way       but I wanted my cake       I’m just greedy I guess     she told the world I was hooked on buzz       she patented the bad news        and other adult fictions        I’d rather roll off empty      than wear those colours      I talked with my feet     and made for the door       I wished her luck in the future       but I doubt it took hold

13 May 2022

latch key kids

 

latch key kids      we’d tasted freedom      the place to ourselves    for a couple of hours        we played  cat and mouse        beneath the bedclothes       the sun and rain        pelted the windows      it was a school day        we were both skivers        adam and eve       marooned at last      in a council flat



10 May 2022

darkling

 

I’m in the fucking dark here       just  gasping for light       flip flopping on the shore        caught on my own hook        nothing stings like the barb of fear       because there’s fear        and then there’s the dread apprehension       all emotions radiate       from the core anxieties       I have shit festering in my can         that would sap your will to live         they lay in ambush       my denizens of the deep      there’s no respite       they never sleep


9 May 2022

the last tyrant

 

don’t you just love being in control?      isn’t power the name of this game?         I shed a lot of friends       when I broke ranks with the stalinistas      they are out to get me still       with their psychic instruments       and ugly rumours       but I keep faith with my own principles        as befits someone of my temperament         and chemical impulse         I was vain         I was ruthless     I was cruel       all these charges are true         but I’m no judge      and neither are you

 

 I never swallowed the big lie       but I used it from time to time       when it suited me    and    conscience allowed       I reap as I sow        without complaint      I’m just one in a chain      that spirals off into infinity              the songs of my benefactors       echo in my mind     and I’m free to choose      just what I keep       and what I leave behind

6 May 2022

mea culpa

 how far is too far?       how close is not far enough?      we left no stone unturned      in our pursuit of pleasure        but I touched you      right?     just as you touched me       didn’t we burn down the night?     and light up our days      with incendiary passion       brazen sinners      who made our beds in heaven      I have no regrets       do you?       if I erred on the side of foolishness       I did so by your grace      for your precious love


hear my voice on the recent collaboration with musician and producer Calum Marshall: ‘Dagger’.

stolen kisses

 stolen kisses       the knowledge of flesh        that’s what I like        I’m not going to bring you flowers        I bring you blood     I bring you fire       I bear the awful gifts you secretly desire

 and where do you go?          and what do you see?        when you could be running wild with me        and  with the passing of the seasons       when the months roll into years      there’d be a million different reasons           why I’m almost always yours

hear my voice on the recent collaboration with musician and producer Calum Marshall: ‘Dagger’.