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Sep 2014 · 523
Not Pavement
Joe Sep 2014
It's Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Not Pavement
There are no roads here

We don't need roads where
We're going

You got what you want
You want what you got

I've spent some time of late
With a poor impressionist
Although his impression on me
Was kinder than on most

It's Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Not Pavement
There are no roads here

Roads are so straight
So Roman
The empire fell
The Pavement rendered redundant

It's Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Not Pavement
Jul 2014 · 668
Pens and Ants
Joe Jul 2014
Enid turned her wheels
A red flash through
Luscious green
Across the wall of corns

In what felt like
No time at all
The gabble reconvened
Inside the hessian on bread street

Taiyo and Darcy
Evoked the Spanish coast
Fresh faces following
More mature fingers

Frankie and Debs
Move us from Spanish shores
To Antarctica, with penguins
Brian and David

Then comes 'The Man'
Four men , four beautiful men
To play us out and
We don't stand a chance with them now
Jul 2014 · 1.6k
Imaginary Circus
Joe Jul 2014
Pablo went to the circus
The lithographs give it away
Unless of course
He had the knack
Of producing a place from scratch
An imaginary circus

The positive and negative space
Silhouette circus
Of hoops and bears
Gymnasts on chairs
The blank faced audience


He also did ******* bullfights
In 1946
His blood splattered face leering
Over his lithography
Jul 2014 · 501
There is only Matisse
Joe Jul 2014
Sat in a room with Henri Matisse
You must have many questions for me
I said
Henri smiled

At that very moment    snap      -Gyula Halasz-
His Hungarian walked in
I dropped my tea
She dropped her dress

Henri drew
I drew a blank
'All things considered there is only Matisse'

P.P
Jul 2014 · 524
Garish Marilyns
Joe Jul 2014
The Garish Marilyns
Do nothing for me
The pinks
The greens
Obscene sweet wrappers

A level art students pour in like
Fresh fish hauls
They stare reverentially at the
Garish Marilyns
They have seen a thousand times before
On poorly made t-shirts
They use words like iconic
I rustle my sweet papers they
Glance over but my plain face
Only distracts them momentarily
From the gaze of yet another
Garish Marilyn
Jul 2014 · 748
Part Time Poet
Joe Jul 2014
I watched the part time poet
Warble

I watched the part time poet
Drone

I watched the part time poet
Get the **** off his chest

I watched the part time poet
Walk home

I watched the part time poet
Greet his wife

I watched the part time poet
Undress

I watched the part time poet
Pour a glass of wine

I watched the part time poet
De-stress

I watched the part time poet
Close the curtains

I hear the part time poet
Call the feds

The part time poet seems
Somewhat displeased

Officers, there's a part time poet
In my flowers beds

The uniformed man who handles me
Is a part time poet too

Now I can go full time
Got enough on my hands
At least two hundred yards
From you
Jul 2014 · 753
Juicebox
Joe Jul 2014
The child in the the gallery cafe
Was underwhelmed by her
'Children's Lunchbox'

She sneered peeling wafer thin
Ham out from between bleach
White bread

Stares despairingly at the
Cardboard, itself adorned with
Animal iconography for her
Enjoyment

She feels patronised and no
Longer hungry
Pushing both the apple and juice
Box tumbling to the floor
She makes for the door
Her mother still unaware
I have a duty to alert her
But I just watch
She bursts out onto the
Street as I reach for her
Juicebox
Joe Jun 2013
The breakfast massacre of '95
I was young and naive
I was fresh-faced and alive

I cracked open my egg
Was about to let loose
When my soldiers arose
And marched past the juice

Down over the tablecloth
Straight on from hot tea
My buttery battalion were
Heading for me

The breakfast massacre  of '95
I was bruised and battered
I was barely alive
Jun 2013 · 651
Parental Guidance
Joe Jun 2013
The was a young boy
Who was terribly fat
He ate all he could find
Including the cat

That horrific act
Heralded by a wail
From the greedy boy's mouth
Protruded a tail

Oh no poor *****
How awfully sad
'Listen here my boy
You're making me mad'

But as the boy's father
Shouted and spat
A space was appearing
Right next to the cat

The lads mouth was wet
His belly a-rumble
Now was the time
For dead daddy crumble
May 2013 · 893
I am
Joe May 2013
A young, fairly attractive
Woman mouths
The words to the
Latest chart entry

She thinks no one is watching
I am

A balding, middle aged
Man picks
So aggressively as to
Carve a new nostril

He thinks no one is watching
I am

Sat in the Car
With time on my hands
May 2013 · 1.2k
The Hedgetrackers
Joe May 2013
There is an elusive group of creatures
Seldom spoken of by sensitive souls
Lining railway tracks as far as they stretch
Hiding in hedges, dashing down holes

All it takes is patience
An ounce of imagination
From Taunton up to Stoke-on-Trent
One can be spotted between every station

The Hedgetracker is spotted
Silver eyes glow in the green
Though most keep sightings to themselves
As to be believed they must be seen

Hedgetrackers should not be feared
They're neither vicious nor malign
They just want to keep their peaceful lives
Of watching trains fly down the line
May 2013 · 996
Marc Bolan Record
Joe May 2013
We argued over that Marc Bolan record
That I knew wasn’t mine anyway
We argued over that Marc Bolan record
It’s my demented way of passing the day

I love to see the lines on your forehead appear
They run so incredibly deep
I love to see the lines on your forehead, my dear
When you’ve got the bit between your teeth

So when I hear ride a white swan
I can’t help but think of your face
Fighting your corner for T.Rex
That cosmic dancer in outer space
Aug 2012 · 2.1k
On Dartmoor
Joe Aug 2012
Poorly built Jenga towers
Polka-dot the moor
The cows and sheep, for centuries
Have wondered what they're for

Perhaps they're ancient ladders
Leading straight to heaven
But the last young lamb to try it
Fell down and smashed his head in

The cows tried them as markers
To work out where they are
But in their field that's useless
As they never travel far
Jul 2012 · 15.9k
Tubular Boobs
Joe Jul 2012
I've never been a boobtube man
On me or on others
Stand up against these tubular *****
My sisters and brothers
Jul 2012 · 616
Two young Americans
Joe Jul 2012
Two young Americans
Sit before me on a train
Discussing their fathers fashion taste

How did this conversation start?
Is there any way I can interfere
To halt it?

A woman runs full pelt past my left-hand window
The doors shut, she gazes through the pane, as we
Move off- wet eyed, gutted

I try to express with my dry eyes, sorry eyebrows
That she has been saved from a fate
Worse than a quiet platform
Jul 2012 · 844
No Sweeter Sin
Joe Jul 2012
Parma became violent
She threw her weight
Around

Bertie cowered
Hunched shoulders, eyes straight
Down

Parma pounded, pummeled
Bert's soft head fell
In

It takes allsorts
Bert's final thought
There is no sweeter sin
Jun 2012 · 600
Untitled
Joe Jun 2012
The air is taut
It snaps and crackles
Surrounded by a crowd of jackals

No one knew still no one knows
From where this ****** Ivy grows

Through the keyhole up the wall
By Thursday it was ten feet tall

No one knows still no one knew
From where this ****** Ivy grew

The air pulls tight
Thick Ivy shackles
Enter in the crowd of jackals
Apr 2012 · 1.5k
Bodhi trees
Joe Apr 2012
I stand at the altar
Of a red brick Victorian
Baptist Church

Kneel at Namas
With my brothers for Salah
In the Mosque

Follow flags to
The Gurdwara
  Amrit Sanchar*


Everyone has their bodhi tree
I carry mine with me

-
Seated in a building
Singing songs
To an all knowing deity
Some hold arms aloft
Awaiting heavenly high fives
Others shuffle feet uneasily

It's time for the alternative sermon
Where we air all the doubts
Where hushed voices sweet singing
Make way for swearing and shouts
Apr 2012 · 715
The Knowall Know Nowt
Joe Apr 2012
Fill my mind with ideas, ideals

Epiphanies or banana peels

Push my back with a helping hand
Grace my cheek with fist
A sponge, I soak up everything
Assassinate me or assist  

My ears are always open
Though do not always understand
I must hear every argument
To grasp that helping hand

Fill my mind with ideas, ideals

Epiphanies or banana peels

Ignorance is bliss
How often it's been stated
Though I'd prefer to know everything
As bliss is overrated
Mar 2012 · 1.1k
Giraffa Camelopardalis
Joe Mar 2012
When I dream at night
             which is usually, although
Not exclusively
             when I tend to dream

There is always a giraffe
              at my side
His name is Rothschild

I thought you should know.
Mar 2012 · 682
The Chosen Tree
Joe Mar 2012
There once stood a tall tree
A fine tree
There were many trees surrounding him
But this seemed a proud and worthy tree

Adam produced a key
On choosing his spot
Proceeded to inscribe
A 4 E
The fine tree shrugged off the scratches
Then lurched to see
How incredibly honoured felt
The chosen tree

Till one day came men
With blades bigger than keys
Who spat on the ground
And felled all the trees

The chosen tree tumbled
The inscription no more
Now his remnants lie packed
In a box marked
A4
Feb 2012 · 1.3k
Juniper Taste
Joe Feb 2012
There are two unfinished gins
By our bedside
The night took us
And made us forget

I reach out to quench thirst
In the morning
The juniper taste of regret

I watch you while you're sleeping
I listen to you breathe
You'll wake up and leave soon
Then it's back to the distillery

There's just one unfinished
By my bedside
The night's over
You fell through the net

I reach out to quench thirst
In the morning
The juniper taste of regret
Feb 2012 · 577
Lucian
Joe Feb 2012
Lucian ,



The unfinished dog

The torn chesterfield

View of the sky

Stillness of age

The running tap

The scattered rags



Lucian                                         Perverse

                           Lucian                                                              Abandoned
Feb 2012 · 1.0k
Button-marked Thumbs
Joe Feb 2012
A posse of cronies
With button-marked thumbs
Were part of a ring
Of cyberspace chums

With crimson-lined eyes
They played night and day
Till some solemn stranger
Took their machines away

The stranger stole through the dark
Before they, could awake
To tip their technology
Into a lake

The groups sleep-rested eyes
Opened to see
The redundant space
Where gizmos should be

Some shouted, some cried
Some just couldn't speak
They rose from their beds
Confused and knees weak

Once clothed and clean
And breakfast was through
One cry could be heard
'Now what do we do?'
Feb 2012 · 944
Scareports
Joe Feb 2012
Check: passport, ticket,
Boarding card, gate
WAIT

Lose ticket, find passport
Boarding card, gate
WAIT

Browse duty free
You neither need nor want
'Best Offers'
Printed in seven foot font

Reflect on adventures
Sights freshly seen
Sit on scareport seats
Hung head
Quarantine

Lost passport, ticket
No boarding card nor gate
Flight still delayed
Four Hour
WAIT
Jan 2012 · 962
Salvation from Convention
Joe Jan 2012
People pray for their mortal life's extension
Others for peace, for hate and wars prevention
Some atone for sins too dark to mention
Me? I pray for salvation from convention

People pray in aid of middle eastern tension
Others for freedom, no more Guantanamo detention
Selfish suits pray for the latest invention
Me? I pray for salvation from convention

People pray for the safeguard of their pension
Others for good, for evil's condemnation
Some pray for forgiveness for an earlier conversation
Me? I've lost faith
Jan 2012 · 1.1k
Love Triangle
Joe Jan 2012
Mr and Mrs were in love
It had been so for years
Still every time he came home drunk
He reduced his love to tears

The rule of a love triangle
Is somebody must lose
This household was no different
Mr , Mrs or the *****
Joe Jan 2012
The young boy looked puzzled
Sat slumped in the car
A day trip to Grandma's
Roadsign : Not far

To his curious child's question
No answer replied
This proud, Grey Englishman
Watched chevrons, sighed
Jan 2012 · 2.3k
You Are...
Joe Jan 2012
You are a poet lacking poetry
A composer who never penned a symphony
A clown plagued by misery
A broadcast not shown on T.V

A duck pond missing mallard mates
A panda without panda traits
A perfectionist who makes mistakes
A pacifist who fights and hates
_
Jan 2012 · 1.9k
Scissors
Joe Jan 2012
The word springs from my mouth
Lips part just like blades
Tongue bounces north then south

Scissors was the first word
My infantile-self uttered
Since that day, my vocab
Has grown increasingly cluttered

Using my favoured blades
I resign to cut a few
But Scissors, sacred Scissors
I shall never sever you
Jan 2012 · 1.6k
Acka-Acka-Acks
Joe Jan 2012
When something snaps
The ****** all bolt
Dogs out the traps
We all collapse
Down the plughole
Like turned on taps
Jaded expats
Bourbon, poker
All throw craps
Black top hats
Line the road
Like mourning bats
Marital spats
Crystal prisms
Where love refracts
Wear navy slacks
Stare out to sea
As mars attacks
Nightmares hide facts
Flattened like focaccia
Under fifteen all-blacks
Fuss over Goldman sachs
You know we only blink
When it's the shirt on our backs
Jan 2012 · 1.5k
All the World's a Fruit-bowl
Joe Jan 2012
The Pear,
Armed with scissors
And glue
Settled down to
His task

The Apples,
Glared disapprovingly
Coxes have no time
For arts
And crafts

The Bananas,
Thought the whole
Affair was beneath them
They thought
Too much

The Kiwis,
Were green with envy
At such freedoms
Desire, bursting
Through brown coats

The Grapes,
Clung to each other
Fearful, by nature
At the concept
Of life beyond
The Fruit-bowl
Jan 2012 · 710
I love you, Santa
Joe Jan 2012
I, dressed in the shade of an overdue bill
Sat with my sack and a hat with white frill
Awe on small faces as they all filed in
Fake white hair on my lip above a beaming grin

William was his name, thin and pale
With eyes so wide from watching bread turn stale
As I called out his name and pulled out a box
He shook and came forward, black shoes, white socks

Merry Christmas, I boomed , I hear you’ve been a good boy
Inside this box hides a fantastic toy
He took the gift from me, staring in awe
He leant in to my ear, on tiptoe, heels leaving the floor

‘I love you Santa’ he whispered
Jan 2012 · 752
Cul-de-sac Chronicles
Joe Jan 2012
A new arrival sends him itching
To drag open the drapes his fingers are twitching
He benchmarks the day as they come and they go
From window-framed photos
Stories of his own

Relays the album, day after day
Till the thought becomes fact, he can’t shoo away
It bothers him and blights him
The ****** won’t quit
Till he retakes his throne at the curtain slit

— The End —