Saturday, July 14, 2007

Iraq, John Wain in

We just stay put.
Keep them on their toes.
They'll start to split.
Quiet there!
Settle down, this'll be a long night....

Monday, July 09, 2007

Iraq

3,606 US troops have died since the 2003 invasion
3,606 young people
That's a lot of youngsters,
brothers, sisters,
partners, children,
friends, communities...

three thousand,
six hundred
and
six

If lives* made cents,
how much is that in dollars?


*Iraqis don't count. They are free.

Size Matters

She said mine
was a bit short.
So a poem
has to be long?

Sleeping Beauty?

Alastair Campbell is no beauty;
nor a princess, even if he met one
in the mirror.
This business about spin -
what happens if someone wields a bodkin,
a sharp needle?
Maybe that is why he sticks things
in his hands:
a prick here, a prick there,
the blood spreads
all over the map.
Truth aborted.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

What rhymes with drains

Washing up the supper things
- stewed gigot chop, some fish,
new potatoes, carrots and peas,
if you must -
at the bit where glasses 'n plates
lead on to a few pots
a poem came to mind, line by line;
that will do, I thought.
So neat it went down the drain
before I even pulled the plug.
Maybe it will surface, somewhere,
sometime. Though it won't cause
ripples

Religion

Enough.
Had it up to here.
Silly arguments, disagreements, rows.
Not speaking.
Fights - and worse.
Wars of sorts 'n bombs blowing apart.
Raised hands, shattered legs, blood.
You wallow in it if you want to.
Sackcloth, ashes, guilt, bonemeal.
Don't ask me hear for credit.
I've given it up for lent.
No offence - just bog off.
And don't knock next door.
They're out.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Killings In The Key Of Life

market

capsule 07.07.07 capsule

Sun
No, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Tony Blair accepted a senior position in Murdoch's News Corporation empire. A seat on the board, or whatever.

Stars
Just think, what we see around us as the Milky Way: all the stars in the sky we can see and cannot see, could just, say, a drop of rain in a bigger scheme of things.

Rats
Are not really very nice. Unless you happen to like them. Or if you are a rat...

Religious People
Some of my best friends are religious. Actually, that is not true. I have relatives who are religious. I don't have friends who are religious. It wouldn't bother me if I did, but I don't.

Sprats
I like sprats. They are one of the few foods everyone in this house likes. Bring them home from the market. Head, tail, clean and wash them. Leave them in a bowl with chopped onion, salt, pepper, thyme and a big squeeze of lemon juice. Flour them, put them on an oiled tray and bake them in a very hot oven. They should be starting to brown and crisp a little. We have them with brown soda bread, with lemon to squeeze over. Or with boiled rice, fresh tomato and pepper sauce and fried plantain. Although many varieties of fish are threatened with extinction, sprats are plentiful and likely to become even more so. Also, they are relatively cheap and very nutritious. They are delicious.

Space
Although there is a lot of it, like water, sometimes there is not enough space. There are human beings who do not have much space. Other who do not have enough water, or food to eat. There are people who suffer all the time because of what others do to them, deliberately.

Rocket
It would be good if this capsule launched into space from a real rocket. Instead I am send it into the Internet, virtual Space, by was of a blog, a virtual rocket. I hope it ends up with someone who reads it - the rest is up to them.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Breadrin

There, on top of the freezer:
brown soda bread;
coconut bread - more like cake
for buttering. And it was a fresh
coconut from Ridley Market,
cracked with a hammer
between the eyes.
Lincolnshire Plum Loaf,
- more like a fruit loaf
for buttering.
No, indeed not,
the cupboard ain't bare.
An' Bix Beiderbeck breaks
into song - well it was
Seger Ellis - eighty years
ago but still fresh out
of the oven:

"There's a cradle in Caroline
A bough in a tree, a bowing to me
There's a cradle that I call mine
A carpet of green, you know what I mean"

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

MP3 Banks And Fields

Houses in De Beauvoir 'town'
have spaces in between;
all look different.
Flats, blocked not quite
in De Beauvoir, are tallish,
flattish, sameish.

Finding myself striding out
too fast, stopped under a tree,
fished out my MP3 player,
walked on, more slowly.

Large black male, Royal
Mail, rooting from the red pillar-box;
suddenly looked my way as I passed,
dark swept-around sunspecs;
tapped me on the shoulder:
"You have a nice evening".
"You too".
Nice guy.

Our usual postie sits
plays with next door
comic-cut cat. Gives the old
man time to get downstairs.

Yes, compress some audio files,
easier to store and carry.
Lives? Leave those
empty spaces in between.
Don't go for lossless either,
guaranteed to fail under
cold grey slabs of mud.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Goodbye TB

new blood spurts
bright red
chequered flag
well done
check rolex
podium
champagne spurts
pits

Monday, July 02, 2007

Tom Tom McO

I TELL YOU NOW:
I set out for Damascus.
I met my destiny,
driving down the Falls Road
in a chariot of fire.
That is the way
of the almighty Lord,
as set out in
The Holy Bible.

We bow our heads to God,
His Son Jesus Christ,
our Saviour,

Éamon.

Puppy Love

I’d like to write
in small clear words
like the Pet Shop Boys.

What I wrote
would not be as
popular.

And it would not be heard,
either,
like the Pet Shop Boys.

Nothing so popular
as cute puppies in a window.

Rape'n'Death in Darfur
gets boring after the
first few rhymes.

Excuse me! Could I have a quick word?

sometimes
a word
is not
enough
not even
quite a few
of them
not
even
set
to
music