Behind the headlines

How long does it take to plan a murder? A ride down town, flying to New York from upstate? You need routine time so you can think knives, hit men, car accidents. It makes going home feel good knowing one day it could be empty. Life’s bearable for another day.

A woman’s right to choose.

A true woman can wear
make-up and sexy
sensual dress

A true woman can blast
to the sky with roar
ringing in ears

A true woman can sacrifice
for children 0r husband’s
hoarded love

A true woman can change
the world, herself, when
wanted.

She decides.

A true woman rocks!

Swinging both ways

It was out of respect to his wife that he slept with men. She was the only woman he loved. Playing around would cheapen her and tarts soon want sticky fingers. Better were men, strangers, unkissed, undressed, and handled with emotion left in the discarded clothes. Love has many voices.

O Lord deliver us the last supper

Each night, a pickle, a slice of the best Wiltshire ham and a slice of Melton Mowbray pork pie was placed out. She had done this for forty years of marriage. He had arrived back drunk and maudlin for thirty of them. They both hated what life had served them

No such thing as a free lunch

.....Floppy Bunny was hopping along when he saw a big carrot. Looking very carefully around, Floppy saw no one so tiptoed towards the juicy carrot.
.....Floppy of course didn’t look up so missed the hawk dropping down.
.....The farmer did and shot both-one for the pot, the other for poaching.

Breakfast at Tiffany

.....I despise you, she thought as Mary asked,' Darling could you pass the milk?'
.....I know what you are up to you bitch, he thought as he said,
'Of course. Have you plans today?'
.....Why, your rent boy want a service, she thought as she smiled and said, 'No, darling.'

They got their Desserts

.....‘Dam trade, thinking money buys them me family name…asking where I got me furniture,’ said Lord Charles growing red faced.
.....Felicity smiled and calmly said, ‘Daddy, we need to save the estate and if that means marrying folk too common to know puddings from dessert, it’s my sacrifice.’

Last thoughts

He fall knowing that he wouldn’t survive the impact whenever it came, he struggled to remember why he was falling. The thud of the ground was welcome yet didn’t feel final

‘How long must he suffer?’ said the advocate-witness.

‘Still he remembers what he did to us,’ said his victims.

You look like love

Two old people, a man and woman, sit on a park bench, ignored by the passing families enjoying children and the winter sun. If noticed, they are merely discarded yesterdays. No one notices they could be tomorrows. Ignoring the families, they whisper love poems of ‘do you remember when you looked like.’

All political careers begin in hope and end in despair

The hero dies
as a human and is reborn
as our fantasy of hope
and the better life.

Slowly they make change,
and disillusion yet
another
lonely mother
or bitter farmer.

As the dark Lord
gains life again,
a human
somewhere
stirs to fight.

And we dare
to hope
again.

Snow in England

The city had buckled: nothing moved in the terrible blizzard, schools closed, the struggle to work too much, panic hoarding, abandoned cars, families huddled together to survive.

On the BBC horrors here and horrors to come- an inch of snow in the morning with more expected.

Fancy. Snow in winter.

The impossible dream of writing.

Bringing into life stories and poems
that captures life not literary form
so that readers know, it’s about
them. Even better reading
to hushed audiences that
laugh and cry as the
truth stirs within.
The white page
laughs at
me.

‘You
write’, it
sneers to face..
‘Doggerel and flat
prose emptied of life
is the best you can do.’
Its an impossible dream.
Then whispers of readers break in
on despair. ‘You have made us ponder,
cry and laugh-sometimes. So now try harder ’

A Promise delayed by a lie

‘You won’t tell will you?’ They came to her house scratching at the door. She let them in by every sense of the word yet in the morning, it was money on the table and the whine.

You bet she would tell when it was time to gather her pension.

In honour of tea in the morning

Cups of tea, console consistently.
Even better big stewed steaming mugs
that prods and pokes life into prone forms.

Ritual morning moans of who to make,
who to brave touched toe to cold floor first,
ends wife winning whines that too tired.

Curses cursed and coverings cast aside
with grudging grind of teeth our noble
hero of the hour heaves up bravely.

Fingers fidget around for glasses
so the day dances to blinking eyes.
as floor flailed for cleanest cast-offs.

Stairs stumbled down to cold kitchen hell
but radio homage to Homer
restores cheer as kettle’s cheeky call
allows algebraic alchemy.

Mugs in handsome hand our hero walks
with proud princely poise bearing towers
of sumptuous life licking liquor
to rumbling roars of room sized snores.

Electric Death

Did you ever stop to ask ‘is it only me.’ I mean if you want weird shit it’s on the web nowadays. Me I lay hands on naked men and they get their biggest boner and pop as they fry. I don’t even get to enjoy it. I like women.

We have this one licked.

‘What wrong with baby, will she live,’ pleaded Ma. The Doctor, in a cold professional manner said, ‘She has intestinal infantilism.’ Pa stood up for us. ‘Can’t you do anything she’s slipping away?’ ‘We can try an appeal for bananas.’ With the war on, Ma knew she was beat.

When yes is the only answer

When you wait for mountains to turn pink, it’s like waiting for death. Not the death of accident or intent but that of a content life waiting for its shining. Now others say yes or no to the weight of your life. You just see the glow and say yes.

Your Vantage Newworld Oven Dreams

Nothing says loving like something from the oven
Pillsbury Foods

I can remember when I would
turn heads. When it mattered what you
offered. I know you can’t believe
when you look at the splattered top

and burnt black oven but once my skin
glistened. Women who wish my brand,
first wanted style and the white that hid
being a package cook. My oven

from the first day had no Coq au Vin,
beef stew or fruit pies to invite
watered mouths open for physical pleasuring.
Instead, children survived on fridge

food warmed in my pristine belly;
for the women’s idea of a
special night in was a meat slab
mallet murdered so dead twice

and then eyes right as it ripples.
Who now cares that I stood for the
posture of work shy gals. Yet my
owner kept me sparkling not that

this was an effort. And with the time
she saved, I blush to say anything
about who called when her husband
was out innocent. I should have ended

my time in that house as I wasn’t
going to be worn out except
her husband came back to find that
a spit roast doesn’t always require

an oven. Well that was me ripped out
and sold on to student drudgery.
Early risers burnt my surface,
late owls obscured my oven function

with a room heater for heated late night
conversations. As you would guess, no sleep
is bad. And as scrubbing was what
they did on a Friday, I was

soon down to two top flames and an
oven door that you kicked to click shut.
, I mean me who was voted oven of
the year in eighty. Now the scrap yard

van calls to take me to my death.
A white goddess replaces my space
as fate fumbles to see what I
become: car, plane, saucepan. But my

secret hope recasts me as top
stove for celebrity Jamie Oliver
so food at last made not warmed.
And I kitchen queen to chief king.

Getting away with murder

.....‘I know how you could kill Jim and get away with it,’ Shelia said downing her fifth shot.

.....‘How?, ’ slurred Nancy well on her way to the floor.’

..... ‘Poison him, and set the heating to be hot. They won’t know the time of death.’

.....‘Sounds…,’ but then Shelia slide silent.

At home on Sunday

He sits and has his tea,
a nice salad,
crunchy,
seeing if he can taste the difference.
His wife of thirty years
hangs from the ceiling with
a rope made from his best tie,
brought for his birthday.
Her swaying in the breeze makes
a creaking nose which comforts him
as he sips a freshly brewed cup of tea.
Her face is white rather
then blue
suggesting
a
quick
ending.
No dancing feet or
tongue bursting for air.
Moving away from the table,
he wonders if today
will be the day
that neighbours
call.

Your dog as guardian

You know the worth of a person by how they treat dogs in the shadows away from the common gaze. When woken by a greeting lick by a dog desperate for a morning romp watch how they welcome the unmeasured love. It’s how they will greet you in unguarded moments.

Why I didn't stay

.....today write
about
being heard

stop mithering me,
ya little bugger

.....a book of
words weave
a magic

gisit 'ere

....secrets of
night dreams
flutter down

giz that - ah
gen it ya!

.....hot ashes
fire love
to crackle

ya mardy nowt

.....a child no
more so
poem hears

Family Life

Family is when your teenage son wants to go to an all night rave with his girlfriend. You protect him a mother’s fear by joking about what parents did as teenagers. So different yet so the same.

But still get up at 5am to pick them up. Just in case.

Tasty lovers

Before starting the week, he liked to know if fortune smiled. To do this, a portion of his day’s favourite meal was stored in a blue porcelain bowl; each with a favourite lover’s face. On Sunday, seven bowls were finger licked and judgement made by how many lovers still tasted