succinct six

The Talking Typewriter

After you have finished
Typing poetry for her,
Be sure to tie my
Ribbon around her hair.

The Old Ephemeral Shop

A curious face, never to be seen again, has looked deeply into your eyes with some mute message, which you are never allowed the time or intimacy to understand.

Somewhere,
Small coffin of
Lapwing Larkin Linnet
Lowered into a lake.
The water holds their reflection.

Cenotaph : Brittle Bones Bullets

Last bullet of Somme found his neck
Morgue’d sky was suddenly silenced.
His trembling hand recovered
Tobacco from the mud and blood.
He rolled two slim cigarettes
‘It’s over mate.’
He placed one to his dead
Friend’s lips and wept.

Born To Hang

Weren’t you the one who
Collected rat heads in a jar?
Threw your brother down the stairs,
Painted window black to block stars.
Weren’t you the one?

Weren’t you the one
Who bullied our friend to the noose?
.
.
Drop dead.

The Haunted Bird Cage

Nest of threads
On shabby carpet,
The moon powders
All fibres white.

Sending
The never-ending
Beyond

Delicate bones of chicks
Who never used their wings -
Who never flew that summer.

Life Is A Hilarious Game

Of all death destruction
Passion beauty sadness
& love I have witnessed
There is only one advice
Sagely I wish to share:
Never wear leather
Elbow on a tweed coat.


* Pic still. ‘Dance of Death’ from The Seventh Seal