When I drive
in darkness
I like to
let rain fall
without
interference
and watch
for the light
waiting in each
landed drop
to spark at
oncoming traffic,
I watch a
long time
and wonder
sometimes about
the total law of
probability
but I am no
mathematician
and luck
has steered
my hands
truly
thus far.

I collect missed
opportunities
and mark them
out of ten
and order them
accordingly
and store them
in my brain,
I'm constantly
updating
as new regrets
form in
my ever changing
hit parade of
things that
might have been.

I know
a man
with dirt
on his clothes
that
people avoid
wherever
he goes
he carries
a shovel
and everyone
knows
whenever he
digs
an epitaph
grows.

......Breathing Space......
She left when she realised he
Was closing more doors than agreed
When he asked her for why
She said look at that sky
That's the breathing space my lifetime needs.

......Thoughts......
When they're finally free of their chain
And falling about you like rain
Don't be wasting concern
On a fear they will burn
They might not fall your way again.

......Next door's cat......
There's an old man next door in the flat
He shares with his skinny pet cat
Whilst nobody here
Has seen him this year
His cat's grown disturbingly fat.

......Popular......
Some people are popular folk
But none quite so much as the bloke
Who waits in the park
Each day after dark
Selling sweet smelling clouds of blue smoke.

......Dead Fred......
The problem with my Uncle Fred
Is he keeps coming back from the dead
'It's a bit ****** cold
Down in that hole
Stop putting me back' he said.

......Reverend Ted......
The problem with Reverend Ted
Is he keeps rising up from the dead
'Heaven and Hell
are all very well
but I'd rather be home' he said

......Pop......
He was just building up to a scream
When his head fell apart at the seams
Days at a time
He had lost to that rhyme
Now he'll never find out what it means.

......Madman with gun......
I once knew a man with a gun
That he aimed everyday at the sun
As it sank to the ground
He fired off a round
And went to bed thinking he'd won.

......Madness pt2.....
The last man alive raised his gun
and declared open war on the sun
as it sank to the ground
he put the last round
through his head convinced he had won.

......Moondrops......
The night the moon started to drip
A silver drop fell from it's tip
And carved in the dark
The sweep of an arc
So fine we thought heaven had split.

......Holidays on the moon......
We holiday each year in June
On the back of a crescent moon
In a house made of cheese
Where you eat what you please
Last year I ate the front room.

......Gravity......
Ever since the day of my birth
I've been jumping for all that I'm worth
It's jolly bad luck
That gravity *****
When you're trying to leave planet Earth.

......Venus......
I've been asking directions to Venus
And it seems that the space in between us
Is an awful long way
So I'm leaving today
On a rocket that's shaped like a frankfurter.

......Martin's Limericks......
With a limit of only five lines
The first two of which have to rhyme
With the one at the end
Martin my friend
You nail it every time.

......My Poor Limerick......
From an ivory tower of prose
It's a long way to look down your nose
At my poor limerick
That you'd beat with a stick
If you could without creasing your clothes.

Lately I've been sinking
in verse
and I've been thinking
if your words
run as deeply profound
as I fear
then I'm sorry
I am
drowned.

The night
the moon started
to drip
a silver drop
fell from
it's tip
and carved
in the dark
the sweep
of an arc
so fine
we thought heaven
had split.

He stood
At the end
Of the days
That had passed
And he wept
For them all
As they spilled
Through the gaps
In his fingers
That clawed
The air
At their backs
Til the one
That he thought
That he'd caught
Was his last.

I cannot write
I cannot find
behind the creases
of my mind
the words to fill
another line,
those words wait
out of sight
for now I
cannot write.

Beneath a dusty summers sun
rabbits sniff a loaded gun

that lies beside its owners feet
his muscles twitching as he sleeps

in peace upon the baking moor
the huntsman starts to gently snore

a snore that swiftly grows in size
until the rabbits eyes are wide

with wonder at the awful sound
that fills their ears and all around

they run and stumble and tumble and trip
against the gun and the trigger slips

BOOM

rabbits scatter the huntsman jumps
awake to find a smoking stump

of ragged leg without a foot
his lucky one
the rabbits took.

He
had
worked
hard
for
most
of
his
lifetime
at
being
the
odd
one
out
or
at
the
very
least
at
appearing
different
to
other
people
he
considered
with
disdain
to
be
normal
and
now
after
finally
mastering
the
look
other
'different'
people
wore
he
had
an
uneasy
feeling
that
he
had
simply
exchanged
one
uniform
for
another
and
doing
so
hadn't
required
a
presence
of
oddness
in
any
way
at
all.

Something made me smile
as I passed the place today
where the beech nuts used to pile
and the squirrels used to play
and the workman with the frown
that is sawn into his face
came to take the old tree down
and leave a raw and empty place.

'Let her be a wooden tombstone,
she was getting out of hand'
declared a rubber stamped official
but he didn't understand
that all her strength was in her roots
and her roots were all still there
and today I smiled and watched
her raise ******* in the air.

On some days
even quiet days
my only chance
of momentary peace
is noise so loud
I cant hear any more
thought

On those days
in that moment
that deafeningly peaceful moment
my head pounds
much less
than it pounds
in any silence
Ive ever known.

Fortunately
knee replacement surgery
is now available
on the NHS.

Roll up.
Minds for sale.
Getcha minds for sale.
Step this way
ladies and gentlemen please.
Closed minds
form an orderly queue
for uniforms and direction
to the right.
Step lively now
Chop chop.
Im sorry Sir
all questions are strictly forbidden.
Open minds
mingle freely
if you please,
we will find one another
sooner or later.
Yes Miss
thats right
a penny is all you need
once its dropped
you'll be fine.
For all the Undecided's
there is a fence somewhere
to sit on
or hide behind
while you wait.
I apologise for offering a choice,
there is a little devilment
inside us all.
Please excuse me mine.
Minds for sale
Getcha minds for sale.
Roll up.
Roll up.
We cater for all.

I like the sound the rain makes
I like to hear it land
with the thunderous drumming
of a punk rock band.
I like it dancing off the roof tiles
tapping at the glass
tickling the fields
although its quieter on grass.
I like its change in rhythm
as it navigates trees
the ragged umbrellas
that Im standing underneath.
I like it playing percussion
on the surface of the sea
when the only people still outside
are listening like me.
I like the sound the rain makes
wherever it lands
I like the sound the rain makes
but I also understand
your devotion to the sun
so theres a possibility
if you listen to the rain fall
you might understand me.