Listless
but not lacking lists
we drift from start of task to task
half a heart engaged
half a mind to dash
make a break for clean air
and there’s the rub

our chimp brains love
and chimp arms seek hugs
but they must stay empty
at least
until the dust settles

My heart’s lub-dub
pushes blood half lost.

In the lab they would no doubt see
an elegant double helix
pointing to a certain ancestry

but I see faded yellow turtle necks
and kitchen based bowl cuts
rain hammered car roofs
peering through steamed windows
at the sea

I smell lemon zest
taste cake mix
and hear the muffled,
distance thwarted hum
of Radio Wales

In amongst my GATC
you are woven unloseable,
a shepherd to my instincts

I give thanks with each breath

I’m not letting it stop me,
I’ll just carry on living my life
he said
treading dog **** deep into the ****
while under each arm
were many bags of bog rolls
puy lentils and spelt flour
that within the hour
would begin their months long spoil
at the back of a damp garage

Us writ large

exposed by this little
biological *******
which, let’s remember, does not think

Just because Dagenham Dave
or Portia
don’t either
does not make us sparring partners

Evoke Dunkirk or the blitz
if you want
but please
do it getting off your ****
on the 1995 bottle of ouzo
from the back of your drinks cupboard

at home

#dontbedicks

The vitriol drips
entered through eyes or loose lips
take hold and make most
a little sick

At the same time
chlorophyll is tickled
and the ambient temp
clicks biological switches
and the earth does it’s thing

It won’t stop because we’re hurting,
quite the opposite,
it’ll take its chance to breathe
without us being *******

So when we’re done coughing
and it couches us again in
long grass and butterfly kisses,
let’s try not to forget