took a bottle from the cupboard
then she tilted back his head
this meant trouble, he discovered
when she read out what it said

it said hazardous to health
twice as poisonous as bleach
keep it on the highest shelf
keep it out of children’s reach

treat like pepper spray or mace
or an acid that could maim
store it in a cool, dry place
and avoid all naked flames

the instructions then suggested
it could leave him stiff and pale
if by chance it was ingested
if by chance he did inhale

then its pungent, toxic odour
from its allergens, writ BOLD
burned his nose like caustic soda
made his nostrils yearn for cold

since the content seemed unstable
so she handled with a glove
but she let him read the label
and the word he saw was LOVE

held his nose and told him ‘swallow’
made him chug it in one go
and the pain was quick to follow
why she did it, hard to know

felt like acid ingestion
not a gentle warmth inside
so he asked the girl a question
‘is an antidote supplied?’

she said ‘there’s no medication
just a long and slow decline
there’s no cure or vaccination
you can only pray for time’

and that pain he still remembers
since his stomach’s still upset
just a pit of glowing embers
from that girl he can’t forget.

I had weakess of grip
thoughts of madness and sin
at her pouty of lip
and her brownness of skin
and her smoky of eye
and her blondness of hair
and her longness of thigh
and her hugeness of pair
and her tightness of sweater
her made up to the nines
and her couldn't look better
and her blurredness of lines
I could see her undressed
still in fullness of clothes
but I lost interest
at her picking of nose.

from there to back
you come and go
and hairline cracks
begin to show
from top to base
from toe to chin
to line your face
from outside in
then gold to brass
to false from just
with bones of glass
and blood of dust
then passion throes
turn malcontent
well, so it goes
and there it went
a shadowed earth
where suns are moons
and jagged curves
make knives from spoons.

what do you suppose is
the reason why roses
have thorns sticking out of their stem?
well my diagnosis
a kind of psychosis
has turned it to us versus them

i went for a flower
but bled for an hour
when stabbed by a spike underneath
but I will not cower
from their fire-power
next time I’ll prune armed to the teeth.

you’re so ****** keen
I’ll do as I’m told
you change what words mean
so scared becomes bold
and movement means still
and captive mean free
and things like free will
what you want them to be
your line stays upheld
by total compliance
and if I rebelled
to Hell for defiance
it is not allowed
to cast any doubt
your voice is so loud
you cancel me out
so I will not say
‘on the other hand’
a different way
you’d not understand
you’re too blind to see
the main cause of stress
adrift in a sea
of self-righteousness
but sleep well tonight
of worry, bereft
since you are so right
you’ve got nothing left.

with a drink in my hand
where the ***** clicked and rolled
from the stool that I manned
I looked out at the cold
to a place on the street
from the warmth of the bar
where the homeless compete
for a jaw at the jar
and their eyes seemed to say
as they stared me right back
it is not a long way
to our side of the track
that it takes very little
to fall on your ***
because people are brittle
and shatter like glass
like the windows at home
or the face of a watch
the screen on a phone
or this tumbler of scotch
from the tiniest chip
and the lightest of scratch
anybody can slip
when there’s no one to catch
I was left in no doubt
that the membrane was thin
between those who were out
and the ones who were in
so said ‘thanks for the tip
but for God could be I’
raised the glass to my lips
and averted my eye.

the *** that was white
is now mostly rust
the lid had stuck tight
the handle is bust
and like something ballistic
had ruptured the tin
all the once optimistic
bright colour within
has bled down the side
and pooled at the base
faded and dried
and stuck it in place
so it’s left on the rack
where the damp and the cold
for a use leaves a lack
and it just gets more old
but not all went to waste
it was once on the wall
although paper and paste
long since covered it all
it’s the wrong side of thin
not much more than stains
but beneath that thick skin
surely some gloss remains?