Poems

Blue breeze blows across the craggy shorefractured granite, its face pocked pools fullgreen with tidal forgetfulness.Tufts of stunted grass quivertiny reeds moan an eerie harmonyand in a lull,seagulls rise and cry southleaving the wavesto punctuate the silence.

my big toe bandagedblue eyes three foot somethinginvisible gangster friendsmachine gun stick bang bang bangingdown corrugated alleysnext to the train lineacross troll bridgesdogs speak my tongue falling in my sleepfaster and fasterto land in a bamboo jungleand pretty mary saysI’ll show you mine and we dosing a silly dittythe sun’s high and hot with spitas…

The Roman General Germanicusaddressed the rebellious army in Gaul.Sent by Tiberius to talk sense to them.They wanted their holiday pay and were going to march on Rome! The speech was stirring,about glory and destiny.Would have made great TV. At the climax, Germanicus drew his sword,pointed it at his heart and said:“If I lie, I’ll kill…

Lays traps in our 30’s & 40’sshe’s pissed properfailed lessonslegions of lesionsGrendel’s Mum comesin dreams and reverieover burnt bridgesmarch skeletonsTime’s her elementold, invincibleshe won’t be ignoredarmed with historyThis is Your Lifeover and overthe temporal glide shuddersan hour is a daywhite gloves conscienceflimsy truths crash, stormsof delusion and ironyshe’s a black crowslowly back flappinginto childhoodour second…

The thin white curtain dancesacross the high bright street light. As a child, they’d be ghosts in that;ethereal bodies born on a breeze. Billowing to a silent waltz. Now there is only the thought of it,a cat purrs at the bedroom door.

When I operateI operate aloneon a blue couchno anaesthetic go through the chestwith a wiltshire;planet light, shaving mirror& Gray’s Anatomy retract ribs three & fourwith a tyre leverif recalcitrantemploy Makita chain saw hoover suctionswab with a pair of her cottontailsunskidded, preferably the tricky bit:raise and snip the aortaand ventricle arteries take a moment to pondergod’s…

Cripple neck ladderbucket slung gunfighter styledown to the mothering earthbranch sapfurry sun balls ‘strip the bastards if they’re not green’ bearded dragons, billy tealoading the pine box@ 32 cents a bucket swinging on a ropeover Murray snags and bunyips at night caravan park peacocksleave iridescent calling cards.

Roofless Scot’s Churchsky monument to Celts and timetrawlers bob in the harbourparavanes at attentionfrom where the rood stoodDanube, Achernar, Siriuswheel overhead Buried in wind-weaved grassa grave, 1209 AD A fisherman tires at the tillersails off the coilor a goat wife about the cragswho in spring, a sneeze blew away Distance is time for the travellera…

(CP Cavafy rewrite) pleasure fatal the samelost returns demands a bodypower comes with nightprospects and compromisescounsel becomes nightlife better begin nowhe swears

& homosexual slayingsa Torrens of brown nostalgiaOrthodoxy soul deep poor Catholic westrich Proddy easta Belfast fought witheyebrows and surnames Helpmann got Smart& got out early the tacit war against women:but she asked for itis a defence behinda single front sandstone where young womenturn in to their mothers at 30 Monet Sundays last three months or…