Unnoticed

Reading the papers and seeing the news on TV
the festive season has begun, like an eager blue tractor
little time for those caught up in wars;
We will remember them at the dinner table.
A woman received 8 million dollars in a divorce settlement
she had had aromatherapy worthy of a queen.
New knee caps worthy of Nefertiti’s found in the sand.
The divorcee can afford her hip bones if ever found,
according to the newspapers who live on rumours.
Archaeologists are looking for the ancient queens’ ***** hairs,
Now, that deserves big headlines.

The forest dog

A dog lived in the forest
I think it was a she
It avoided conteact with people
The forest was full of rabbits.
I sat on a stone in the glade
For a long time it ignored me,
But one deay it came near
I fed him a sandwich, later on
It let me pick ticks of its fur
Before backing into the bushes.
On my walks, I often sat on the stone
Sometimes the dog came and sat
Beside me for a while.
When the hunters came it disappeared
And stayed away for weeks.
One day I found the dog near the stone
In the glade, it had been killed.
Humanity is an ugly beast slay for
Pleasure and not for food

Paying bills
A post box full of bills and only one postcard
virtual cards do not count; it is like virtual flowers
you see them on a screen and smells of
laziness and a forced duty to send something to
show appreciation.
Bills are more trustworthy they want payment now
and follow up if you haven't paid in time with
a stern letter typed words on paper and you can't
pretend having forgotten it.
I have the bills in front of me, but will not pay
before I get the stern letter, showing me they care.

The New Year


We are going out to eat early
go home before midnight to avoid the noise,
besides, since we are elderly
and this may be our last New Year; we rather spend it at home.
After a long fight, I got to wear my collarless shirt
no tie needed and my tennis shoes, grey slacks and
my old blazer.
What my wife will wear I have no idea since she has changed
her mind five times, home she dresses warmly it is a cold evening.
With the strict drinking and driving laws, I will stick to a low-calorie
drink I think it is called Zero something.
It just struck me when there is fire-work in the sky people go out
to see, In Afghanistan, people hide in basements.
So I wish a good New Year wherever you are.

At the hospital (nurses and doctors)

Been to see the diabetes doctor
first, we had to see the nurse who did the physical aspect.
The nurse said I had lost 2 kilos
which was pleasing to hear; the last time I met her, she looked
worse for wear coming up to the surface of a night depravity
and her uniform looked crumbled.
Doctors, nowadays, consult their computers to see
how you feel tapping away, like a secretary.
My doctor, a small, slim woman, had been to the beach
she had lovely fingers; she wore pumps I didn’t think much of
but her ankles were elegant as her fingers.
Finally, she gave me some new tablets I will probably not use
I noticed she had a copy pen on the desk, given to her
by a medical supplier, not that I mind… My God, those pumps!

A time called Noel

It is a cold morning, soon it will Christmas
and people of good-will are going out in the night
to feed the poor, the homeless and other  
victims, of our capitalist system.
Glowing in goodness, they think not the poor
need shelter and food every day.
The traffic in downtown Cascais was intense on roads
not built for this onslaught, we ended up at
the biggest supermarket the one that sells to among
other useless ****, plastic bicycles
Millions of these bikes toys end up in the ocean
and it is a fair bet fish don't use them, I rather
see an ocean of wisely used condoms.
The supermarket was so full I panicked had to run
to my car, waited until my wife rang she had
a trolley full of stuff, but luckily no bike.
I got a fire- engine for Christmas as a child, it had
wooden wheels that soon fell off, I lost interest.
I think it ended up in the wood fire so one can say
it was useful to the end.

Remembering a dog


When I was young and for us not rich there was
navy academia you could learn engineering, navigation
and catering, with my eyesight I settled for catering
After going through the grades, I got a certificate that I was
a chief steward. a job which consisted of telling the cook what
to make, buying the food needed and to do the books.
The big tank ship, oh so beautiful, sailed from oil port to to
another oil terminal and boredom set in, I left the great ship
in Antwerp and after a week ashore I got a job
on an old freighter going into every port, you could think of
I was in my element; this was a perfect ship.
The officers were not going anywhere, no one wore uniforms
and bothered with titles.
On a French island, I have forgotten its name, a dog came onboard
unseen and since the storeroom was open it hid there
and I didn´t see it before we were on the open sea.
I took the dog up to the old-man he liked the dog it had a home.
Months later, when I was on another ship my old ship was
******* in front of us, the old-man was retiring taking the dog home,
the new captain didn´t care for dogs.
The dog remembered me, and there was a lot of kisses and cuddles.
I'm sure the little dog had a long and happy life seeing
green grass and trees.

Some summer night


The summer night is hot you can see the flames of hell,
acrid smoke and soot through the open window.
In the interior of the house, a primal scream
two wriggling bodies try to produce an offspring who
will grow up and be like them and die like them?
But not before it has tasted love, a seed of humanity.
Then sinking back underground, spent, forgotten
in the mass-grave of boredom
decorated with flowers that radiate deaths to come.
The Tasmanian tiger howls to the moon and forever
vanishes into an ancient forest,
While werewolves’ sways to a Mexican dirge

Sea-Gull-chicken

The two baby gulls II have been watching
Have grown rapidly in the last few days
Today they are out flapping their wings
Not quite daring to fly.
Over the circle the mother gull. shrieks
A warning, but it could also have said, fly
You little ******* I will not feed you more.
They hang about on the roof the world is
Such a big place.
Tottering back to their nest behind
The chimney, perhaps tomorrow, I like
To be there when they fly.

What you wish for

It was Friday we were going out for a meal in the evening
I had visualized a fat pork chop with furrows of fat in the meat
whatever you say fat food taste better than chicken.
Since it was evening my wife thought an omelette would be
right for me and the waitress agreed – she is a friend-
But a few glasses of red wine were ok.
After eating the omelette, drinking the wine, I wondered if
they were patronizing me, so I had whisky with coke.
I tell you I was not drunk, but I felt an irresistible need to
tell a story, standing up and let my voice boom to drown
the audience with my erudition; it was not on,
we come home to catch the nine o'clock news.

Not my story

During the fight of the French and the Algerians
I was caught in the middle of it.
A French surgeon who sided with Algeria, had
Given then vital information and four of us legioners
We're told to execute him.
When we arrived, he was in the middle of surgery
So we decided to wait, none of us wanted the job
But orders are  orders so we waited
Finally he came out we had guns at the ready
And he said: I don’t want any of you to be guilty2
By then he popped a pill in his mouth and died
Instantly, an ambulance was called and we did
A  collective relief we didn’t have to **** him.
For a reason unknown to me, I was sent to an officer
Course it was decided I was best at the security services
And ended by a career as colonel specializing
In African affairs, many people have died by my findings
I don’t

Remember the emperor

In Japan, especially in Tokyo, people are a strange mix of efficiency.
Young people are adolescents until they are forty living in an aspic
of western pop culture that does not exist anymore; when their parents die
they either grow up or become recluses unable to cope with the world.
The older generation did well and there are many of them like shingles
in the emperor’s driveway.
Japan had a meltdown 12 years ago which was good for the country
people have less haste and go to karaoke cafes once a week singing
a sentimental song about lonely cowboys.
I was in Nagasaki once, just as Nippon was rising on the financial firmament
but got too close to the sun.
I was amazed how quickly the scars of the nuclear had physically healed
but mentally, there must be a corner in their psyche
that can´t forget and will find revenge one day in the land of the rising sun.

The Enemy among us
The western world has lived in peace for sixty years
mainly because of EU and shared horrid memories.
This has not been the Palestinians case who were
shooed away to give room for a colony called Israel and
those who object – freedom fighters- are called ISIS.
The USA have dropped bombs in the middle -east for
a long time and produced more ISIS fighters which now
is a common name of all who do not like being bombed.
Ex-president Obama sends drones they are intellectual
from the out- set. Trump drop a bomb the biggest in the world
it made a terrible noise, and 36 Taliban were
killed, they too are called ISIS.
(In Trump's case one wonders if he suffers erectile dysfunction)
China and Russia is ISIS in disguise, as are left-wingers
and those who do not believe in the American dream.

I knew of a writer
who had to take the job as a kitchen cleaner
as no one wanted to publish his work
mind, he always had clean fingernails, when he sat
late at night composing words no one in the world
would ever bother to read.
When it became clear to him, he was an exercise
in futility, he quit his job grew a beard and his
fingernails grow long and *****.
Crossing a bridge, he was about to jump but was
stopped by his inner police officer who said it was
against the law.
He had to write is own way and not imitate
the famous writers of the past and since he didn't
have any style, took a long hot bath
and got a job as a security guard guarding tractors.
He doesn't write anymore but waits for
his style of writing to show him how, because
he saw no point of writing for the pleasure of it.

Mass Immigration

Once upon a time, there was a mass emigration
from Northern Europe to America, caused by social injustice
and bitter poverty.
46%n of the population in Norway immigrated to the USA,
the immigrants settled mainly in places like Minnesota and
another northern state as farmers as the land was easy to come by.
Few of them came back to Norway, those who did were
to show off their wealth such as a big car,
having a car was beyond reach for ordinary people even up to
the ninety fifties.
No sane Scandinavian goes to America anymore, this because
politically the USA didn´t evolve but in many ways regressed
into boneheaded conservationism.
Yet for many, say, Latin America where people have suffered
under various dictatorships, North America still offers hope
of work and food on the table.

Grace

In Livorno, I touched the wings
of a silky butterfly which had come
to join me at the table.
I had only meant to feel its beauty
but my coarse fingers damaged
delicate wings.
It tried to fly but lost height and
landed in my beer glass; fished it
out but only damaged it more
on an iron table painted summer
green, beside a vase of scented  
flowers a fragile life ended.

Loneliness

I have always been a bit of a loner
it is a part of me I cannot eradicate.
I have had few close friends as friendship is an itch
that is demanding in its clawness
My loneliness is a part of me I try to escape
but also embrace as it sets me free.
I became accustomed to living alone when I stayed on a farm
with only animals as imagined friends.
There were no other children to talk and play
Sometimes loneliness can be a burden walking alone
turnaround and say, look at this view!
When I write- I do not call myself a poet-
It is as I connect with unseen friends and the act of writing
feels like I belong to the world.

Sunday Forenoon

She is listening to the Catholic mass
On TV and I’m banned from the living room
She takes her religion serious
And will be spared of any sarcastic remarks
About how the Padres are dressed and me
Wondering aloud if they believe what
They say.
We are going out for lunch, the sermon has
Made her hungry and we will have chicken
Killed in Jesus’s name, fried to perfection.
Me! I prefer Portuguese bacalao burgers
Fried to perfection, with a salad and later
drive along the promenade people watching.

If not burned

Hellas is burning the Athens is surrounded by invading fires
no modern weaponry can stop this brutal onslaught.
Greece is far from here, where the Atlantic breeze is cooling
it doesn’t concern us, should it?
Further afield, people have too much water the drown and
become refugees trying to find a safe place.
Are there any safe places left?
Those who think their country is secure will not share
it with the driftwood coming to their shores.
California is burning villas made of timber are matchboxes
for the rich to feels the heat, but does it make them kinder.
Of course, it has nothing to do with us, we who live in a place
where the breeze from the north Atlantic is cooling.
In this time of life, the pandemic is just the beginning
of a total breakdown of the world we knew, the day may
Come when Afghanistan is a relatively safe place to go
as it has no flooding to speak of but has plenty of drugs
to pass the time while waiting for a fire to reach us.

The Jester

The circus's princess, call my receptive ears picked up
the euphony appealed to me.
The call was not meant for me, her heart wished
for the dashing lion tamer.
Me, the clown, she liked to tease I took my mask off
and entered the lion’s den, the animals rolled over
laughing, as only big cats can do, as did
the audience, the lion tamer was not pleased I had
ruined his act.
The princess too was amused too
I'm unconsciously funny, fated to evoke
mirth, but not the sigh of love

the crying


Silent tears fill eyes
From a well deep inside
Regrets.
A life lived but not fulfilled.
Silent tears fill eyes
Love not received
Love not given.
Silent tears fill eyes
The sound of a plane afar
Will it ever land.
Silent tears fill eyes
If not dreams
Will fade and flowers wizen.
On the steps a child
Looked towards the morning sun
Her heart was full
Of love and future.
A bomb falls when it stops
The child will be no more.
Silent tears for the cruelty
That kills children.

The boxer and the actor

I saw them on the sidewalk near The Radio music Hall
in New York, Jack was telling Alan a joke
Jack Dempsey wore a sport’s jacket, brown trousers
a white shirt’s open, top button open
shiny shoes; Alan Ladd, wore a grey suit, with matching
tie (Everyone had shiny shoe trainers not yet invented)
I noticed he was considerably smaller than Jack.
I was in awe had never seen someone famous
life and up close; this was, in 1957, I was so young.
I bought a ticket to see the show at the music hall
before the movie dancing girl came to the stage
with live music and plenty of thighs.
The final was a big kick a woman got it wrong
she kicked with her left leg when she realized her mistake
shifted to the right leg; too late, the music had stopped
but with one leg still in the air, it was what I remember.

Cold winter

It was the coldest winter anyone had experienced.
Birds fell from the sky frozen and oven ready.
He opened all windows let the coal- fire roar, birds
came sat on his roof; so many birds the roof collapsed
the coal fire overheated, the iron melted
the house burnt down; his wife demanded a divorce.
He said to his solicitor: you do your best to save the planet,
its fauna and this are what you get!
He had taken sacks of coal at the depot for this bagatelle.
he was fired and reported, two years prison, which
when you think about it a bit harsh after all he had tried
to save the birds at a time when homeless people froze to death

From Dust

Life is dust
Without it, we will not exist
Ask my cleaner.
No, don't ask her
She is paid to remove it
A dusty book on the shelf
Are words waiting to be read
It has waited so long it's
the author is gone, dust, but still has something
he wanted to say
before he is as forgotten as the rainforest
59 million years ago.

Hong Kong, the Paradise

Did you know that in this enclave?
one out of five lives in stark poverty.
This place has the highest property
Prices in the wold.
The owner of such a flat has to
Subdivide the flat until it becomes
Tiny boxes to be able to pay rent.
Those who started this mayhem
Possibly get help from outside
Sources who know there is no win
Except for embarrassing China.
Demonstration without a clear goal
Is futile, the students are taken
For a ride and their democrat
Credentials a historical footnote.

Adam & Eve

If a koala bear had been sitting in the apple tree
and Eve had asked Adam to move the animal
to the appropriate tree so it could feed and sleep
there would be no need for religion and snakes
would have no poison.

It was Eve when she had her period, which got
the idea to cover her distress with a palm leaf,
Adam liked the design and the garment industry
was born, but it was Eve who wore and made
the first hat to protect her hair from the sun.

The Nordic Pyramid

Up north, where I was born
there is a mountain in the shape of a pyramid
of course, it is much bigger
dwarfing the Egyptian´ones.
It is snow-capped looks desolate
but every year I have noticed the snow crown
is getting smaller
now it is the size of a French beret.
Soon the snow will disappear and
the mountain will look like a pyramid.
A testament that once the human race lived here,
but they like the Tasmanian tiger
disappeared from the planet.
They will never come back again.

The Land of dream

Early Tuesday morning when the night
Glides into a new beginning somewhat reluctantly
And no police sirens have been cutting the night
Till before and after sleep.
I will like to go to India. the vivaciousness of
The humanity intrigues me, the struggle to makes a living
Warms my heart, the poverty is holy
The cattle in the streets holier than the statue
Of the man who gave his life for freedom which so easily
Can be lost again when one religion is preferred
From another, they make one set of people arrogant
The other set hateful.
I will be in India tomorrow.

Cold weather front

A few good days fooled us the cold weather returned we thought it was
early spring. I worried if my almond tree had its buds been damaged
and will not bloom and strews petals on the lane,
the illusion of frost, the princes in the tower saw in the fairy tale.
The fire in the grate is exuding warmth the dog no one owns snoozes in a chair,
no, the heart to throw it out
I’m not a tree hugger, but give trees a friendly slap
a sucker for the down and out bought a chicken for a Roma women
begging outside, the guard said, “you must not feed
them” like they should be vermin.
I love my almond tree reminded me of my mother when she was old,
so sweet her face in her frailty.

Diabetic hand-book

If you forgot why you are in the kitchen it is  
probably because cause your wife has hided
the nectar.
Wives are no good in letting you remember.
*** over eighty is cumbersome and clumsy
avoid it at all cost.
If you can´t remember yesterdays’ lunch
the likelihood is it was boring.
If you can´t remember your cat´s name do not worry
it doesn´t know either.
If your diabetic feet restrict your walking. try a treadmill
when you see a blank wall remind yourself
that you were bored too when young.
Swimming can be good but preferable in a child´s pool.
The point of all these exercises is to live longer
but you will only live as long as nature intended,

The grocery/ wineshop

Once when he lived in Faro (Portugal) and walking about
he came across a grocer shop that was new in 1950.
As window display a packet of washing powder, fossilized
the name of the powder was Blenda, of the same type
his mother had used and tinned sardines.
He entered and was gripped by the sadness of the shop.
It was bigger than he had thought, barrels of wine, and in
a dark corner, old men sat drinking in silence.
So, it was an unofficial wine shop, a hiding place
for the aged who had resigned to their fate of elderliness.
He had a glass of red wine served by a woman older than the shop.
The wine was surprisingly good. He had another drink
and joined the men in the corner.

Plant Power

When I die, my body shall not be ashes and
strewn upon the sea, it’s polluted enough as it is.
No, dig it six foot deep under my almond tree,
let it absorb my flesh.  

If it turns out that have I a soul too, I bequeath
it to the tree as well, it will then be more careful
in whose path it casts pink & white flowers on
cold winters days

Haiku

Wretchedness is to
Watch You Tube three in the morn
Watching a dog show

Nature is acceptance

Three hatchlings in a nest high up a tree,
It was time to fly the mother had stopped feeding them.
So small the wings, so far to the next tree,
The first one tried and made it looked embolden,
the next one to try landed on the ground but was able
to find a branch of a tree.
The third one was not made the heroic stuff, it hesitated
too long and when it did it ended up a vat of water
meant for the sheep, where it drowned.
Forgotten by mother and siblings it was only sentimental
humans who felt the sadness of the scene.

In the eye of the beholder

To navigate between truth and lies skill is needed
I read in the Guardian, famous as a paper speaking the truth
but somehow, in the current debacle sounds like
polite propaganda.
There is a site called GAB, rather right-winged; I think
whose news is a corrector, of what is said in
the big papers.
Who speaks the truth?
It is like navigated in shallow waters of sandbanks
and in thick fog, all voices want to be heard.
What to do, we take the information to slosh it about
lies sink to the bottom, the truth is a bit obscured
Floats to the surface; depending on the experience
you had of life, make a choice.
Which invariable leads me to the left of the stream
In the river of words, when all is said a good place.

I’m still in Cascais
Waiting to go home to my house in Algarve
30 years since the Berlin wall came down with the help
Of Russia let us not forget this.
In the meantime, many more walls have been built
Mainly in Israel, a program on the TV didn’t mention this
We don’t like to say anything upsetting.
The wall between me and my house is called old age
When it comes down no one wants to cross it.
The Chinese wall is a tourist attraction, no China
Is building a silk- road instead of covering the whole world.
There are many unseen walls between people, classes
Poor or rich, and between you and me.
The hope is that abstract walls will come down
The rest is steel and concrete suitable for building houses

Wood Talk

The wood delivery man came this warm sunny afternoon
the man wanted cash dislikes checks, I don’t blame
him for that.
Why should he pay tax when the likes of Starbuck pays
nothing much.
I usually drink coffee at the local café, tried Starbuck once
coffee with milk was not enough kept talking about
“latte” no, just coffee, nothing else.
A friend of mine who has gone to school came over and
sorted things out; didn’t care much for the coffee
I don’t think the woodman drink coffee, a faint smell of wine
about him.
It was after lunch, the police officers, leave us alone here
In the deep dark valley.

French “The Language of love”

Darling, speak French when we make love
wicked words I don´t understand but has a whispering meaning of delight.
I stand before you with salutial *******, a soldier of love
ready to sacrifice myself in your subterranean pleasure.
Your wishes have to be expressed in French, or the steed will not react
with proper force thinks it is time to return to the stable
On the subway in Paris, I got in the way of a woman who wanted to exit
she swore at me, thinking she said words of love, I kissed her and was arrested.
But soon released when they understood I was a foreigner
lost in the ways of the Gallic idiom.

The Stylishness

Coming back he felt like a man sitting
on a train going home from seeing the blue angel.
Besides a person who was on secondment
from the army so often he was a now a colonel and
knew the railway system in Germany.
He had been on a ****** for days and, the room
where he woke up was dingy and needed, and all he needed was a cold bottle
of beer not for him but his shakes.
His thoughts of beer were interrupted by a knock
on the door, it was the army officer on secondment
saying goodbye he was off on another train
had been promoted as well to a higher rank,
I congratulated him saw him disappearing down the hall.
Discipline! That's what is needed, with that he got
up had a shower, walked out with nonchalance. Which
wasn't tricky at a downtrodden hotel.

How old is old?
Was it a mistake or am I the clown in a serial TV drama,
an actor not needed for the plot but is kept on out habit,
poor sod can't remember his lines sitting with his pint in the corner.
One day he will be gone, and other actors will talk
about his kindness, The Guardian may show clips
when he had a leading role in a play 40 years ago.
So how long is a lifetime? I don't know, will not
know, but I would mind a by-line or two

The canasta

We played canasta, club 7 was missing lie on the floor,
but the rules where you couldn’t pick it up invented by lawmakers
who had decided that one part should lose the game of power?
Millions of people protested their concern was not hidden as the system
was rigged to favour one and the missing card became irrelevant
or buried in page number five as a joke.
The card was picked up anyway and used as proof of false performance
since the man who picked up the 7th card was profoundly
argumentative he was wrong until proven right, they continued playing
with a missing card ignoring the consequences.
The rule is quite clear you can´t play canasta with a missing card.

Bolivia

in Bolivia, the socialist won
the election, after the American inspired coup
against Evo Morales who had to flee his country
now he can come home again.
The world is turning to socialism to equality
before the conservative dictatorship like the one
the USA suffers under.
In our pandemic times, people see that salvation
is under a coequal society.
Whoever takes charge in the USA it will take longer
the people have been so long under the “freedom whip.”
it will take time for them to see that capitalism is for the few and does benefit the many.
The BLM might be the beginning of a change although,
I have my doubt.
But we must not underestimate the power of the monied class; they have the backing of the military and police
we might see a revolution that will be ******
the big corporation and Wall Street will not cede power unless they are defeated.

The Casket
I saw a coffin the church
Didn't see the body
The casket was bare
No flowers
They are wasted on the dead
I have no religion
For me, death holds no sting
It is merely the end of life.

Identity

    What does it mean to be human?
   What is identity a word used to classify ourselves,
   Setting us apart from other animals, and why
   Have we been given intelligence to destroy?
   The planet, and consciousness to do good when
  The instinct is to terminate what is a bother
  To our wellbeing.
  Is a multi-ethnic approach useful for the identity?
  We tend to gravitate towards the tribe we know
  With people, we feel a kinship.
  Is religion good for us?
  but we invented it together
  With the massacre of those who do not believe like us.
What is morality, not ****** morality which is
An instinct procreates but often sinks to bare lust.
A dog knows it is not human but does it know
Is it a dog, do we know we are humans?

Hospital workers

It has been another busy day a lot of driving
the destination is yet another hospital that smells of despair.
Busy fat auxiliary nurse, you can hear the friction of sweaty thighs
and the smell of their vaginas.
I’m not surprised the canteen sell mostly sweet cakes and drinks
and low paid, they have no other chances.
The doctors are mostly good at their trade, but some of them
would be happier as car mechanics, if it hadn´t been
for pushy mothers wanting a son with a title.
They are jolly, the nurses on a sugar high, I think.
I sit in the waiting room, the endless waiting for more tests.
My doctor is female, she talks to me softly, but there is steel
in her voice, telling me what to do and eat.
After a shouting match I lost, I gave her one of my books.
Mollified, she forgave my outburst. Yes, she is an angel.

My Serengeti

I have neglected to visit my “Africa”, the flatland between
two hills that appear like a young mother's *******.
I know the trees and bushes, used to drive there to say hello.
Time changes I have no motorbike.
On the road driving to the shop, I can see the valley, yellow digger
And blue tractors near the wadi where I once saw a brown crocodile
waiting for rain.
Once I saw a tiger leisurely walking across the lane.
A hyena laughed and said it was not here.
They are building a new Algarve type village with swimming pools
and an ambitious golf course.
But not for you and me.
No, I will not look at how work progress let my dream be intact.
But I do wish a tsunami would come and wash it all away.
Alas, nothing stays the same like the olive tree at the entrance of my driveway.
I have lost my kaleidoscope

Doomed is the river

Twenty years ago, the river ran 2 meters deep
had trout we caught with a net and fried over
a small fire with delicious fresh food.
Every year I have seen the river getting smaller
even in the winter rain.
Years ago, three children were caught by a wall
of water, their father was arrested, they said
he had fed the children to his pigs but not
a single button was found in the pigs, enclosure
The broken father was set free, and every
summer I see walking along the river’s banks
hope to find his children’s bones, there is none.

They are coming to take you away, aha.

I hate corners know he will be standing there
A Parisian Apache, one leg resting on a wall
Of a closed-down factory.
Smoking Gitane a cigarette.
Sharpening his stiletto, cleaning his fingernails.
Or a farmer, stony ground fed up, takes his *****
and cut my throat,
A geyser of blood that will fertilize the floor
it could also happen walking home after an evening
at the pub, falling face down in a puddle where yellow welly floats.
It could be so banal, as falling when going to the loo
with a broken nose, no one hears the muffled screams
dying and not saying anything divine.
I have to buy a coffin it must be wide, sleep in it every night
wake up in the morning dead, with sunlight on my pale face.

The freak of nature

There is a tiny islet in the foggy Saragossa Sea
it has no name since no self-respecting explores
would put his name on it.
However, it had a Vulcan that erupted and when
the lava stream cooled seagulls found it a good
a place to nest.
Something strange happened some of the eggs
grew huge and when hatched had a wingspan
of 3metres and they were not of a friendly
disposition.
Glutinous they attacked goats and bigger prey  
and lone fishermen in their rowing boats it was
So you could not go to sea getting supper with
Carrying a shotgun.
It so happened the birds were infertile a freak
of nature but as birds they are long-lived if you
see them on a clear day you better keep your eyes
to the sky.

The night I died
I was not asleep, this was not a nightmare
my eyes were open as I struggled to wake up
from the deep hole of sleep.
I had sunk into a sinkhole of sleep
that could only end in unconsciousness drifting into death
helpless as an autumnal leaf falling off an oak.
With all my might with every fibre of my aged body
I heaved myself to the surface.
I landed on the wooden floor
tried to get my breathing under control
My wife came running, asked what happened?
Nothing dear, nothing at all.
I was looking for a coin that fell out of my pocket
when *******.
My head was still fuzzy by unwanted sleep.
I had died, but it was untimely
my heroic leap out of bed had saved me.