remember when i was a female jew in tudor england ?
i spoke to rabbi julia neuerberger recently and she said
i dress so much more flamboyantly now than i did then
we wondered if it wasn t because gibbets don t line the streets now like they did then
they re in government and civil service departments
but they do a PR job that could confuse you if you weren t already mad
with so many spilled lakes of blood ,angry faces ,painful intrusions ,violent assaults and verbal conflicts
and you just anticipate the rippling of a cold stream
and the contact of a cats' tongue on the nape of your neck
i wonder if we could diffuse like iodine in vituperative vapour
and perfect the hiding technique we acquired in tudor times but forgot to adopt last century
HIDE DON T SEEK
THERE ARE NO ANSWERS
c marie forte

TOBY AND I HAVE TAKEN TO WEARING BINDI
WHICH HAS CAUSED QUITE A STIR
IN OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD
WHERE THERE ARE A LOT OF BIGOTS.
I CALL THEM BIGOTS
BUT TOBY PREFERS MAGGOTS
AND WHEN I SIT AND THINK ABOUT IT  
I AGREE WITH HIM.  
HE'S ONLY A CAT
BUT HE HAS A VERY BIG BRAIN
WHICH SOME PEOPLE THINK MEANS
HE'S EXTREMELY INTELLIGENT

BUT I DON' T

catkins hang from  trees
like lost hopes
of homeless souls

corpses splayed out
like guileless nodes
dripping from the trees

ligamentous laxity
like the gum
we spoke of before

ms paragraph choked back tears as she surveyed the turkey gravy and my critcal nature melted like goose fat as she disintegrated into lovelorn regret 'i dont know if Jacob will visit me this year

I AM MERCURY THE MESSENGER GOD
I DO HAVE WINGS ON MY HELMET
AND CAN COMMUNICATE WITH THE BIRDS AS WELL AS MORTALS
BUT LETS NOT FORGET INSECTS
THEY LOVE ME AND MY AIR TOO
AIR NEEDS ME AND I NEED AIR
THERE IS A GOD OF PHYSICS
FORGOTTEN HIS NAME
HE INSPIRES PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE
TO COME UP WITH BROWNIAN MOTION
AND KINETIC THEORY OF GASES
AIR HAS NO TIME
AIR DANCES JUST LIKE ME
BUT I CAN T REMEMBER WHO TAUGHT WHO


c marie liz forte aka marie forte or liz forte

Tobys a clever wizard
with more tricks in his ear than Old Delaneys donkey
he can walk through common or garden walls without detection
has no finger prints only claws
which he unfurls for your inspection
his coats too groovy to mention
and he flies to every high tick convention
hes psychic but noones sidekick
i see to that
at night he dreams ;by day i m his shorthand typist
he conveys his inspirations and i put them on my todo list
BUY FISH
sometimes he gets fleas or even worms
presently he has a neuroma
and he s booked in for an eye test as he suspects glaucoma
he supports the voluntary work i do
for those that cannot see
and he propounds a philosophy
'neither can we '

I went to play tennis on tuesday
with my friend Emma who's blind from birth
I was telling Toby that when I talk to my friends who are blind
I don t look at their hair their chin or their jacket
I look them straight in the eyes and give them my full respect
And if by looking in their dormant eyes
I could make them see
How happy that would make me
But sadly it's not to be  
I spoke to a man about stem cell research
And the possibility it opens up of
Science enabling the blind to see
He wondered with me
Why the blind would strive to play tennis
You may murmur 'that's not a poem '
But I say
THIS IS A POEM
AND WHAT MAKES IT A POEM
IS MY FRIEND EMMA

CATKINS HANG FROM TREES
LIKE JOYS ATTENUATED
CORPSES EMBROIDER

SHORTSIGHTED HEDGEHOGS
COLLIDE WITH IM AND IS BALL
WALK SLOWLY BUT TALL

TOBY WHICH IS IM
SENDS LOCAL CATS IN A SPIN
ES GENTLEMAN JIM
c marie forte 2017





SPELLBINDING SAGE EYES
EVANESCENT TURQUOISE SKIES
REFLECTIVE AND WISE

I HAVE A DREAM IN WHICH
MY CAT WEARS A FLEA COLLAR

ITS TARTAN

HAVING HEARD IT SAID
'IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
IT PROBABLY IS '
I SIMPLY MUST INSIST
IT IS

HE S SPARTAN