a third bucketful of poems

look close and you can see a poem in there!

strangle fleece white open door
changes something – what’s that?
introspective alien twilight
drift across sandshoes
untied laces and mountain ranges
ate vegetable and mould
and mildew soup – just a bite
to eat to keep us going.
white locust hop
skip
jump
bit your fucking head off
and i watched the blood
red stinging sensation
crack spine like pepper
salt, and seaspray
down on the beach
where you and i meet
i see twin eyes
like engine lights
and fortunately, i had
this raygun
and i aimed
squeezed
trigger
blew your fucking head off
and saved the day, yay!

buddha’s self control

buddha’s self-control
wore thin, like rags,
when you took his hand
and said you needed to
feel his warmth
against your skin.

when clouds are smooth

on the phone we spoke;
a passing addict’s phase.
today, i noticed that
when clouds are smooth,
it rains.

on a train

on a train
passing through
night shift
flight of fancy
drift by;
the railway line
is twisting
out of view
beneath the water.

safety for patriots

little girl rides red tricycle;
the sun is burning holes
in the evening sky. masked
men pile wood against the doorway,
set it alight, and giggle
like smoke alarms.
they’ve got arms – big
white strong arms.
they’ve got good morals -
not heathen morals, not
traitorous. this is not a game,
this system has no room for games.
this is a case of racists
keeping us safe from terrorists.

back

intrinsic scapula
tight cross my spine
dig hole in the passage
bone click
and pause
don’t move.

don’t move.

the dagger

i have no pocket for my dagger
which is rusted, but otherwise cuts
quite finely through paper
scissors
or rock.
in sullen times, the swindled zombies
prowl the edge of the herd
red eyes tearing holes in dreamskin
and savage teeth
reckless to tear
but i have no jellybeans, either.

twitch

infect fungus burrow
through pores
tiny insect shivershakes
wingless and disoriented
sniffing through blood
and membrane
in search of something sweet
to taste
to slide between fingers
and press to lips
like forbidden evolution
as behind, the pupae
twitch.

burke and wills

books line the shelves
like paper dunes, and i
walked through the desert
until i found you,
shining amid dryness
like a lost inland sea.

you looked up and saved me
with one sparkling glance
and in that moment, i knew
how burke and wills
must have felt
before tasting salt.

moth and the moonlight

arcing from leaf to leaf
stretching upward
the moth hungers for moonlight
in hope it might warm his wings.

Tags: poetry