If you want to find out what that button does, you have to press it.
I wouldn't, not because I couldn't I just wouldn't.

That's what the end of the world will be
a game of chicken to see
who crumbles first.

some need locking up
some ain't even wired up

and who voted them in?

we did.

Windy and wet
the weather
not me.

Thursday in Metropolis
and that's just *******
we should all be on a tropical isle
sod Blackpool and its golden mile

we need to jet off
get off on the sun
have a bit more fun
before the night
shuts us down.

The way that you hold me
is the way you should have told me,

close and whispered in my ear

now I fear for the outcome.

but it's the way and always will be
he says,
one day you'll **** me,
she knows
that it's true.

If you get offended, feel offended or even smell the scent of and take offence, 'they' will mollycoddle you and change the law for you,
one person can do this

but when it comes to a war that offends millions 'they' don't take any notice

'they' must be 'orrible monsters

.and for what
you've got to ask
your self does not agree
see
free is just a construct
to deconstruct what
you could be,

I am in the chamber
in which there is no
manger
what am I to
make of that?

***
when it's now it is then and when it's then it is now and somehow time keeps on moving, while we're stranding ourselves on the cusp of a minute that may never come.

I divide but never conquer
stoop and always hunger
there is no longer no matter
the longer we wait.

My pupils contract when i see a contract and my pen hand refuses to sign and time keeps on moving
we keep on being stranded

I should be left handed
but I'm not.

There's a reason why you think things through  
get up and do each day when you know that others play that card and waste themselves away,

if there's blame
I'm sure that there is
its not for me to say
we've got politicians for that game
and that's the game they play,

don't be fooled by freebies on the 'net
'cause nothing’s free they say
the only thing that you can do
is to get up and do each day,

see the circle is a wheel
that rotates around this sphere
if we can't get up and get things done
then why the hell are we all here?

you can
blame the system
blame the state
blame it on the hands of fate
or you can look into a mirror
and
wait!

what the...it's me.

Business is booming
the geese are getting fat
but
don't you get your hopes up
you ain't getting none of that

you're collapsible collateral
they'll fold you on a whim
Dickens had it right
these times we're in are grim.

So
we're poaching rabbits on his Lordship's
twenty thousand acre spread
and he's being spoon fed
we're starving, half dead
not even got a bed
to go to get a rest.

I don't mind a bit of hardship
I've sailed in worse than that
but it's not fair that when we're sinking
the geese are getting fat.

( title by Vernon Burford )

Since you ask
yes
I wear a mask
several
if I'm being honest,

one to hide the hurt
one to hide the pain
another to hide the shame
one for hate
one for fate
but
the fact is
the mask is
the wall behind
which I hide.

one day
I pray
the masks will all be
peeled away
and
then what?

If we thought that we thought at all
there'd be no  wall, not in China
or in Cumbria and not on that
border that
Trump went on about
but
when did we
ever?

closing the borders
mining the beaches
making sure that
no
one deserving reaches
our shores

blind eye policies
we so good at them.

Nothing to
look forward to
how does that
make you feel?

full of hope?

war in the East
and when
wasn't there?

but do you care?
that biblical land
sounds
so fukin grand
a must go to see
dip my toes in the
Galilee
and He
would shake his head

DEAD and we should be
the murdering of history
and is it down to me?
you might think so.

that's not a rainbow
it's oil on the window pane
but what pretty colours
in this place filled with dullness.

I look deeper
searching for a meaning
She,
brings in a sponge and
says
it's time for some cleaning.

The rain is driving so why am I walking?
oh
he's talking gobrot again
says my old friend in the back seat of the
Winter Gardens theatre and hotel/bar

considering how far I've come
I think talking gobrot is more fun
than talking sense
especially to backseat hecklers.

bearing that in mind
I'll find my own way out.

I just checked it and yes it's still Wednesday,
I think they've added on some hours to the day
it can't really be this long, can it?

and it's raining but I'm indoors and happy
except for the Wednesday thing

tomorrow is Thursday which is a long way
from Monday,
I am
beginning to think that everything is longer
and further or farther the older I get,

it's still raining.

Forty winks will have to keep
waking now and up on my feet
you can take a back seat
and come along for the ride.

There's no time it's that time
and this time too
wanting to sleep in
will never do,

I must be a throwback
from a place I once knew
always dreaming, scheming
thinking of you.

I get it
I do get it
slow internet
is a part of the system

set parameters
and
get *******
by your drivers,

perverse
well
I've known worse
but we
won't talk 'bout that.

In case anyone is wondering
it's the washing machine humming
and not me.

I dunno
work my fingers to the bone
get home
and work some more
anyway
what good are fingers for?
I'll do without them.

I hear the words,
'you miserable ***'
and sit up to take notice

it can't be me that they're meaning
surely not.

I've got a sunny disposition
although the doctor did say,
that it'll fade with age.

Tuesday done
and
I'm done to a turn
it'll probably be
an about turn and
back to where I started.

It can't be the morning
it still looks like night
too late for a sleep in
too early to write
but
coffee doesn't tell the time
and doesn't rhyme with
Monday.

the start of it.

This is Hot Dog City
****** it may be
but the heat from the oven
comforts me
and when it's cold out there
I swear
even chestnuts could light my fire,

set me alight with you
and
burn me
with your tongue of fire

**** it
I'm dreaming
while
Palestine's screaming
and Israel is hurting

I think
I'm caught in
a loop.

Terrorised and brutalized
we've already realized
that things aren't right.

the wrongs and rights
the snuffing out of lights
when the living nights are
the death songs they sing.

We need wings to put prayers on
and angels to carry them
I wonder if they'll help.

As if it's the air that hangs uneasily
I feel the pressure and it's squeezing me
the day brings no relief to me
my children think they're fireworks.

You've got to get used to it first
and you've got to live in it
to see
if you fit in it
but
once you have seen it
dreamt it
been in it
nothing else will do.

You never hear bells clang in their sleep
they are as silent as church mice.

Sunday came and caught me waking
I was
taking my time to take some me time
and now it's coffee time which will wake
me some more.

I just saw something here
which led me to write this
and I shall leave it here.

we're not being built
we are only an assembly
primary parts that
may resemble you but look
**** all like me

it's the machinery
or chicanery
or even Merlin up to
some wizardry
but
we are not being built

progress can kiss my
laissez-faire
wherever that is.

Another way to put a dot on the card because we all know that this friggin' life can be hard so we go and we do and before we knew it we did it,

not bangin' the drum here
not blowin' no trumpet
no troubadour at this door
just stating the obvious.

Dollars on a ten-spot
and that's where all troubles begin
throw your hand in
or show what you got.

They must be gargling with bicarbonate
that's why they're in a state
but wait!
isn't there a prophecy that foretold of this doom or am i shooting at the stars and colliding with the moon,

I'm watching it on telecast
teletyping my reply
and my tin of Andrews Liver Salts
is already standing by.

It's not me i said to no one
and no one blinked an eye
they're all busy with bicarbonate
wondering when or if they'll die.

Later
I'll have to go to Bethnal Green
I've been there many times,
from there I'll hear the old Bow bells
with their cheery Cockney chimes.

Santa's on a diet and the reindeer ought to try it, they're going to be pulling a heavy load.

I'd like a present in the present and not a reminder from the past,

the gargoyle sits at the top of the tree surveying the room but looking at me,
the fairies long gone and now does a turn on a jewelry box to some crap music from Ultra Vox.

I bet my Christmas box
will be Christmas socks
only worn for a day
and then stuffed away
under the stairs with the
Sixty seven other pairs

but only if Santa can fit
in the sleigh.

Shall we proceed then into this fine Friday evening and see what the night holds in store?
or
shall we be boring old farts that sit in their slippers watching reruns of Minder on catch-up TV?
I was stood in a bus queue, lots of kids milling around, jumping in front of me and stealing my ground,
little *******, was I ever really like that?
probably not,
we couldn't afford the bus fare when I was young and Mum always said that walking was good for me and it was free, She was a wise old Mum, gone now which we all will be or we'll be boring old farts watching Randall and Hopkirk ( deceased ) on catch-up TV.

It's always that time now
or sometimes it's that time when
but how do we know
or how can we tell
who the bell tolls for?

We've all known
no time at all
were in a rush,
had a fall
took our eyes off the ball
and in no time at all
it was that time now.

Friday
is a good time
and
there's not a lot of that about
you'd better make the most of it
I will
without a doubt.

and it's do as we do
follow the herd
become lost and
however absurd
say what's on your mind.

things like
macrame and matchsticks
lampposts and toothpicks
new dogs doing old tricks

you only get one shot at it
and then it's done
have some fun before
you forget.

Thinks we all need a God now
preferably
one of those old fashioned smiters
to put the fear of Christ into the devil
and the deeds that it does.

too much money?
has God been bought off?
has God turned a blind eye?
yeah
and they're cocking deaf uns
blaming it on the big guns

now who are they?
the answer is
above my pay grade
but when the country is laid flat
there'll be none of that.
'we can't tell'
because we'll send the lot to hell.

Money speaks in Mother tongues
buys the bullets
greases the guns
and prayers are pretty useless
against a
rocket-propelled grenade.

History and Facebook memory have shown me that it doesn't always rain but usually does 'on this day'

what a way to carry on
and who can say it isn't so
history and Facebook
will always know,

I take tablets
they keep my blood thinned
they also keep my eyes pinned
and people think I'm ******,
I'm happy about that.

also glad that it is Thursday
but
if I had it my way
I know it would be Friday,

I'd go fishin' but it's raining
so
I'm staying in and
keeping dry.

Whatever the outcome our income remains the same,
there's a glitch but it's not in the matrix
that phrase was put there to trick you.

prices go up
rent goes up
utilities go up
everything goes up
except for your standard of living
that stay the same and
wages going up remain in real terms the same
and that only fools you into thinking that you're flying high
when in reality you're slowly sinking.

It's not all bad news
we're not poor as in poverty-stricken
we can put bread on the table
margarine and jam
and for that I am
grateful

It strolls on in
drooling like a fool
and
here's me
schooling myself for a life
full of hard knocks
oh
no, I've already done that

cue Wednesday, take two.

it rocks up like a superstar
and is by far
the best day of the week
oh
wash out my mouth with soap
and water
I really ought not to tell lies.

cue Wednesday, take three.

this day is designed
to make one resigned
to the fact that Wednesday
is midway
and it might well be
a battle at sea.

Antiques play hide and seek
I searched high and low
not realising that they're sandstone buttes
oh yeah
Monument Valley's a hoot.

Old is the new word on the block
and most will never arrive
kids out there with their heads in the sand,
will be lucky if they survive.

No one goes fishin' in the dust-bowl
can't harvest a crop that's not there
I never saw that one coming
at times I really despair.

But now I'm at rest in the farmstead
the missus churns milk in the yard
She'll give me what for when She comes in
even at rest life is hard.

When you're curled up in bed because there's a knot in your stomach and you know for a fact that it's work that has done it
'who ya gonna call'?

Sleep but you have to wake
and take your medicine
and if there's no sugar?

see
Mary Poppins never reckoned on the cost of living,
what with jumping through pics on the pavement
she never once thought of a linament
and I find myself in
a **** Van **** of a predicament
dancing on taps while someone slaps me awake.

God
I ache
headache
backache
earache
think I'll
I'll take some time off.

Libraries were made for rainy Saturdays and for the elderly to sit in and read the newspapers, a convenient and free way to spend half a day and yet spend nothing until they computerised them, blew out the 'Dewey' and brought in the new E systems, can't find *** all now, books ain't where they're supposed to be and there's no point in saying it's still free when you've got to spend time to look for things,
things like books.

Yesterday was a nice today and today will be a nice day but in a different way because today unlike yesterday I have to go to work,

if I went to the gym, built up my muscles,
I could then muscle in and stretch out the weekend
to make it a bit longer

of course, it couldn't work unlike me who has to work
but
I'm not too blue ( or I'd be a Smurf )
hah
the funny side of me is not only to be seen
in a mirror.

I am one of those
'where do all these people come from, it's Sunday for Christ's sake' people,
as such I shouldn't moan too much
but
everywhere is so crowded
we're breathing in small talk
exhaling but can't walk fast enough
to get away,

it's Sunday but I said that already
and
already I'm tired of it
perhaps
if I prayed a bit harder
that might get me
an extra yard or two
might get me out of this zoo

which reminds me of
you know what and
what knows who
and someone's on third base.

She went for a walk around the garden
I went for a cold shower to get rid of my,,
hard of hearing, mutton jeff? call it what you
want but it still means I'm going deaf
at least some of me works perfectly.

We went out for tea down in Chelsea,
She,
fancied a King's Road kebab
the doner looked a bit tasty
and
the shisha wasn't that bad.

It's Sunday somewhere in the Shires
Sunday in the city as well
Sunday in some village
Sunday in some town
Sunday all day 'til the sun goes down

another stardate.

One could be fast and fast asleep if one slept on a Photon, but She meant a futon and that's what she bought, ah, but for one fleeting moment,
but torpedo that idea.

Crashing once more to the shore
to the sound of waves that
roar and pound
I become more driftwood for the fire
should I aspire to be more?

I have been the beams on pirate ships
in scenes from Hollywood films
and
I was once the best boy for De-Mille,
but no secrets shall pass my lips.

what now and how to make of it
when everyone appears so lit
the world it seems is full of ****
I think I'll sit this one out
  ·

Well worn roads
are generally
full of potholes.

..and here we are
I wonder how far it will go
and
if you don't know
what do I know?

The orbital acceleration
the celestial adoration
the majesty of
isolation
and here I am
what
planets of man am I?

growing here and there
putting down roots and
what do you care?
I'm just the harvest
food for the classes
not even
***** for the masses,

*** it
Blackpool looks better
in the Winter,
the landladies are slimmer
and even I
feel much slimmer,
illusion is a lifetime effect.

Another wonderland to wake into
and the light breaks through as I break out.
Sleep cannot drown me
as I'm grown up now
and
I learned to swim along the
streams of the dreams that
surround me.

Thursday as it will
allows me the moment to be still
and give thanks
and I do,
then
on the ball out in the hall and coffee in hand
wandering in the wonderland I woke into
and
soon it will be
time for...

She says
are you still here?

I'm sure you'll call it premature because I leapt before I looked
well, faint heart never won the egg and spoon race,
but in saying that
I leapt and should have looked because now I'm definitely
Fukushima'd
see what I did there?
I nearly died there
I didn't swear
wouldn't ******' care if I did
but I didn't.

I must be getting better
I should be getting something
it'll most likely be a cold

Bedtime?
well
that's a bust
just when I was
getting
into the night.

never at sixes and sevens
the bonus is in
being at one

and one
is somewhere
inside me
hidden
in a place that
I can't see.

but why?

You end up running faster and faster to stay in the same place
that's how they **** you, regurgitate, pontificate, what a sorry state and when we can run no more we;ll be shown the door, it's nothing new, I've seen it all before.

The sun is shining and there's **** all they can do about that, yet, but one day I'm just as sure they will find a way to ***** the lid down on every sunny day.