Are you keeping
those thoughts to yourself,
sleeping on pillows of guilt,
why?

If the world is constantly changing
how come
it's the same old same?

I hear it time after time and
after that, I stop listening
and start thinking about
negative equity.

fingertips hanging on to
and
holding on by
a thread,
the
cotton wool bud that
separates
the living from the dead

and we're spinning yarns
about good times
and good times
and good job
I
stopped listening,
but
I'm still living
and getting to be
good at it

practice makes perfect
and
it also tires you out.

What if
Jesus doesn't want me for a sunbeam
what if
he only wants me to be a decoration
on a heavenly Christmas tree,
what if
he is a she?

to many what if's
what gives?

always asking questions
never leads to peace of mind
it's just one more illusion,
one more daily grind.

Tuesday and the lights are on
it's costing more and more
I have candles but no matches
and that is just sods law.

hey
they go to the church
because they're searching for something
searching for the one King,

and some of them find him
and some of them don't.

When love has died
when you've broken your hearts
and the tears that you cried
become the river
where everything new starts

ah
poetry
makes it sound so easy
to drift off
into the sunset
and forget


and then
She says to me,
seeing that you're up
are you making some tea?
which in itself
is in a world full
of
poetry.

I  never forget
wherever you are,
or
however far away,
it
will always be yesterday
to me.

here we are
back on the far side
otherwise known as
Monday.

as the bus conductor said,
room for more gloom on top
but
I'll stop with the moaning
and bid you, yes you
a good morning.

The weekend.

Sunday morning,
went to the dentist
he told me
( that'd be the old me )
it was going to cost,
the young me
( that'd be me last century )
would have told him
to get lost

but needs must,
when your teeth are bust
it's just so unfair.

She,
kissed me and said,
there, there,
there's a light at the end
of the tunnel.

Eyelids droop
dropping
out of the loop
everything's
turning black.

But
tomorrow willing
I will be back,
where else would I be?

There's a show on the radio,
'archive on four'
I can listen
with my eyes closed.
( that must be my superpower )

Dreams of Krypton
moving on
a celestial plane.

It woz
that horrible pub grub
wot done it
I said to his worship

nowt wrong with pie and chips
he replied,

the barrister eyed me
I thought I'd go
scot-free,
but it wasn't to be,

you must pay for the food
to not do so
would be awfully rude

case proved
take the prisoner down

It could have been a breakdown
that he had
or possibly a meltdown
but it was bad

a tin foil hat upon
his head,
to stop the
Martians
from
******* out his brains,
he said

fluorescent flippers
on his feet,
if I meet a mermaid
in the night
she's sure to see me,
right?
he said.

........

I was thinking of that conversation
which
if I have it will lead me on the road to damnation
but
*** it
I'll have it anyway,

if I am going to hell
so are you as well
we can both burn our ***** on the fire,

did you guess
that
I want to press the
nuclear red
hide under the bed
until Summer?

Man on the floor?
step around him,
the reality
of modern day life

work until you drop
and unless you supply a
Doctor's certificate
they'll stop your wages,
the reality of modern day life.

everything becomes
a conspiracy theory,
don't get so near to me
or you might catch it.

getting off at the next stop?
there is no stop,
the reality of modern day life

You put yourself out for people
and they **** all over you and
you know that's true in a lot of cases.

I'm fukin tired of putting myself in that position
so I'll be putting myself out for the family and
nobody else.

The bonus being
I'll be freeing up a lot of time
getting re-acquainted with some
old friends of mine
and taking care
not to fall into the trap of
breaking my back for those
who don't give a ****
about me and only look out
for themselves.

wonder now
if this counts as poetry
or counts against me

only you can say.

This could be the one
that makes history,
the poem
that makes money for me

it's
funny how madness strikes,
sixty-two
Facebook likes
and suddenly
you're a God

all seems a bit odd
even to me.

I always feel that tingling down my spine
at this time
on Thursday nights

waiting for Friday,
well
it's better than waiting for
Godot.

National Poetry Day?
almost as good as Friday
unless it falls on a Friday
then it's even better.

Everyone's so woke and yet
they never saw this coming.

The end is upon us
it crept up on us
but being woke
we never recognised it.

Pulse irregular?
you'll fit right in

because  everything
running smoothly is a fallacy
and rough is the new fantasy
which is
a diamond edged heresy

will Jesus save me
from poets and poetry?

Up here in Golgotha village
by the cemetery where Father is buried
the sun rises slowly.

I should be glad, not sad that Wednesday is coming to an end, but then I thought so am I, what a fukin thing to think because we're all going to die and don't you tell me about the 'spirit in the sky', I want my spirit in a glass on the beach underneath a clear blue sky
and I want her to walk by in a bikini and know that she's seen me.

We all want and some of us really want.

I was thinking of you
more often than not.
ah
but I'm always thinking of someone
even if that someone is me.
before I get old
I remember I told you
and
some things were best left unsaid.

This pen is apt to roam
seems it has got a mind
of its own
and I'm a stay-at-home
chap
happy in our own little flat,
but the pen
just keeps on wandering,
a flibbertigibbet
full of mindless chatter,
no matter
it keeps me on my toes.

Underneath the waning moon
I spin the wheel of
fame and fortune
and
it stops
upon a Wednesday.

So be it,
the wind is rising
which hides the
cries
when I have to face
this day,
but it's not going away
so I'd better get on with it.

They spoke again in parables
about recurring miracles,
I swear upon the bible that
I think they're all on drugs.

Picking up my bed
I walked
and how the neighbours talked,
said I'd lost the plot
better than Lot losing his wife
I replied.

Frankie taught me how to dream
how to scream
showed me the way to lean into the wind

but Frankie left and took a part of me
leaving a broken hearted me
how could I ever be
in love again?

What an age to live in
some might think,
why fight it
just give in,
but not me,
I'm old fashioned peculiar.

Forgetting yesterday
won't make today any better
because tomorrow we won't
.
oops  
forgotten what I was going to say
anyway
it's still a hell of a time to be alive
if it's not seven eleven
it's that old nine to five,

time can't keep track of it
that's why I'm buying a rooster,
something
to wake up by.

Some days are like icebergs in that they melt away,
some are damaging, icebergs, not days,
think Titanic.

reminds me to keep my eyes open.

We're probably a pop-up world on page five in a pop-up book, interesting when you look but who'd want to live there?
this popped up in a conversation.

I sometimes pop-up
like a Jack in the box
waiting for Jill so we
can climb up that hill
together.

I heard 'em
but I'm
'cocking a deaf un'
otherwise they'd deafen me,

gor blimey
what does i have to do
to get a little peace?

See a shrink,
someone shouts

clever ***

It gets scary at night on the prairie
yep
that's when the rattlers reel out
as if to dare you
to grab hold of their tails

and scorpions
shine weirdly
and
there are
spiders
creeping near me

I wanna go home

little house on the prairie?
I'll take my chances in the big city
at least there
you know what is what.

Doing a jigsaw
with a box full of flakes
I think it's a field full of corn,
the pieces don't fit well together
a bit like me since the day
I was born.

I could continue but time is against me
the clock's not my friend anymore
the big hand just gives me the finger
as the little hand waves me out of the door.

Monday always falls on a Monday
which never seemed to me to be a
good way to start the week.

Lucky?
'I should cocoa'
but
I
got a job to go to
work to get through
other things I have to
do,
so lucky it is..

The burning flame
which is
a rose by any other name
smoulders.

That first step

yes
that first step

is more often than not
a giant leap

but keep the faith
and have faith in your own
abilities.

I know some beat poets
the
half dead on their feet poets,
those sweet poets
on the road to somewhere
going nowhere
but they'll be there
for the open mic'
on the first night
of every month.

Earlier
I was out in Stratford and
got saved by the Methodists
but the Episcopalians fearing
it hadn't worked
saved me again

never a wasted journey
I need all the savings I can get.

Might as well be hung for a sheep than for a lamb
take it while you can because when it's gone it's gone

and when it has gone how do we go on?

do we get off on the memory of how
beautiful it used to be?

Sunday morning in Rotherham
was made to bother men,

Jesus and the church came
later

Those thoughts always kick in
when you're about ready
for sleeping

and then
you spend half the night
reassuring yourself that
such thoughts
are alright and quite normal

the rest of the night
is spent
wondering where those thoughts went.

I asked the checkout girl for a carrier bag
and she said
(or so I thought)
you speak nice.
and so do you
I replied,

where did you buy it
she then said

and I said,
buy what?

the cologne
she replied
adding,
it's very feminine

oh
you said
I smell nice

I left
feeling rather deflated.

Buy government bonds
and tie yourself up in knots

So,
this year we'll put up a Christmas twig
and hang one light on it,
the tree is being used for firewood

the Christmas fairy should be ok
she went off to L.A

going while the going's good

Friday should be good too
but you never know
what blows in with the wind
until it does.

She was pretty sure,
even unsure,
she was pretty

and I was here
looking at this for ten minutes
thinking
is that how you spell
pretty?

I'm pretty sure it is.

it's the little things
like priorities
that trip me up.

What we wish for may only bring more of what we wish for which might make us want more than what we wished for,

I stopped wishing and began hoping  which seemed slightly more promising, hoping that I could fish all those sixpences out of the well,

going to hell?
why would I?
already been
and
there's nothing there
that I've not already seen,

never got the sixpences back
wished I had.

They are not in la-la land they're all here in London and it looks like it has been planned to tip the scales and create a false sense of balance because as you well know we are not balanced, we're all off to some degree and so you see, the arrival of la-la's does not agree with anyone especially not me,
hard enough to keep focused, get noticed, act naturally and in general be considered acceptable without London Town turning into toon town, soon enough it'll be back down that slippery *****, back on the meds, hospital beds, investigative procedures,

he's as
nutty as a fruit cake
someone shouts,
probably someone from
la-la land.

Sinatra wanted it his way
and I want it my way
either way
it'll soon be Friday,

across the pond
they do it their way
and here
we do it our way,
it makes no difference
it'll soon be Friday.

She nudges me
thinks I'm a fruit machine
sometimes I dream that I am.

The four seasons speak to me
because I treat them all equally,
essentially
I love them all,


I love the summer in the summer,
the winter when it's frosty and the
autumn and spring make me sing
with delight.

The night makes me colder
I ask her
to cuddle me tight,
She puts out the light
and we shine.

I just had a tip-off
that this year
Christmas will be
one humungous rip-off,
this is not in my view
new

Superstores.

they all get on the bandwagon
dragging the unsuspecting in
to look at the krap and
where to begin?

there's nothing much in
the stock's wearing thin
but the prices are fat

and we're being told
that
it's the energy crisis
that is driving up prices
( no shortage of fuel for that )

poppycock.

the profits these giants are making by breaking the backs of consumers is *******

I'm giving Christmas a miss
I might pray  to Jesus
instead.

Love,
fine and dandy
when you're in it,
but when you're looking for it
a guidebook might come in handy.

But it's raining said
Teddy
who was under the duvet,
I'm not going out today
I am staying in bed
keeping warm and dry
Teddy said,

Ted's head is ******* on the right way.

After all those prayers and
my pleading supplications
it'll still be Monday in the morning
and this will not be a tropical island

that's the problem with a weekend
it means that a week beginning is
on the way

Never mind
and have you noticed
Do they all say that?

never mind this
I'll kiss it better
which to be fair
really works.

You can call them stogies stumps or butts
and they'll still call you nuts for smoking
well
*** 'em because
I came before vegans, vegetarians and isms became mainstream
before everyone and their mother had an allergy
and before colour TV,

Blue and the swirls of smoke choke the barflies.

when I'm gone and forgotten
then and only then,
will I be plant-based?

Sunday is a happy day
let us all kneel down and pray
and hope and
Sunday is a happy day
there's
no way the guillotine will fall today,

I keep my head
I keep my head
while all around me
prayers are being said
but
I still keep my head.

Sunday is a happy day.

Surprise surflamin'prise.
we're all that and
'children of the revolution'
too.
however
some have the constitution of oxen
and others can't put their
friggin'
socks on
without a youtube tutorial
to guide them.

Armageddon is an equal opportunities destroyer.

I'm wearing Jesus sandals.

I am quite sure that we've all had those dreams
and you may wonder, what dreams?
well
if you forgot them they weren't all that hot then,
were they?

It's been too long,
we
should have talked
we
could have walked
in the park
discussed things
but
it's been too long
and time' has carried us on
to a point far beyond
where it all began.