Self Assembly Bookcase Heroes
teenage dads
holiday in afghanistan to forget
vampires and x-factor on hd
televisions back home
in nappyville
(diagnosis)
with acne and armour-plating they
go on dangerous missions
for clammy hands to tweek
with the skulduggery of clocks
(prognosis)
pressure pads of sweat
then the ghost sounds of dead pianos
as the lid closes
into a blistering silence
ringing in their ears
(consequences)
… the phone lines are now closed
over to cat deely
who this week tolls the bell for
teenage dads asleep
under union jacks
looking out of anti-glare glass
from a silver frame standing
to attention on the ikea
silly billy bookcase
that also came home
in bits
The Reincarnation of Broken Glass
you seem to think
my passion for throwing empty
beer bottles means i’m a yob
it’s a meditation
baby
one hand clapping
one beer bottle smashing
zen and the hooligan in unison
with a thousand pieces of glass
i also like smashing mirrors
89 to date
kamikaze transcendentalism
to fragment my own image
a very basic
cloning multiplication
yet on the down side
come my reincarnation
with 623 years of bad luck
i’ll be in karma deficit
end up as a snot virus on a petri dish
however i don’t consider throwing
beer bottles into
mirrors as idiosyncratic
entertainment or performance art
more like fulfilling a need
and you should be careful who you call
a hooligan
for i could be reincarnated
as the clap
and still be angry with you
Contagion
just a few lines to wish you better
as i was sorry to see you in hospital
again
but if yer gonna call yerself a poet
overdosing on seriousness
resulting in being up yerself
it seems highly likely
you’ve caught a dose of verse
the doctors looked impressive
rows of pens in their top pocket
a relaxed stethoscope loosely
draped around the neck to
set the white ensemble off a treat
and with full confidence in their own abilities
told me a sonnet about the need to
amputate
a simple procedure to perform
no anaesthetic just a nineteenth
century saw-bones blade
hey cheer up
the prognosis is good
you’ll be home in no time
happy days
no more rhyme just a get
well card from hallmark
i’ve bought you some grapes and a balloon
t.v. guide for the month of june
a book on space travel to the moon
i suppose what i’m trying to say is
get well soon
