LINE

The page begins blank
A pencil is poised
The writer has decided
The pencil makes contact
A mark is made
It's static at first
So the pencil moves
The mark moves alongside
It begins to curve
Starting like a circle
But not fully round
Goes on a tangent
Creates a diagonal line
Then curves once again
This time not clockwise
An almost circle forms
But as you expect
The pencil moves forward
The mark follows too
Aiming for the start
The very first mark
It courses so directly
It meets with aplomb
It clicks into place
The shape is done
The pencil keeps moving
The mark curves again
It deviates its path
Just like last time
So it doesn't deviate
It follows the line
The line made earlier
Curving and joining up
Over and over again
The pencil is trapped
To leave, to remain
Round and round again
And again and again
Curving and joining up
Over and over again
Round and round again
And again and again
Over and over again
Round and round again
Over and over again
Round and round again
And again and again
Over and over again
Round and round again
And again and again
Over and over again
Round and round again
Over and over again
Round and round again
And again and again
Over and over again
Round and round again
And again and again

And again...

HEAD

Quick, quick, quick. Slow. 
Too fast now. 
You take instruction well. 
Don't let that go to your head. 
That's not my job. 
What's yours? 
Elusive. Speak, damn it. 
I retract, too harsh... 
Expect trailer trash. 
Brash. 
Learn your words, 
I compel education. 
Fascism, you say, 
Judgmental, I say. 
Agree/Disagree 
Stalemate, 
Chess: 
Rooks, Knights, Pawns 
...Your Queen has fallen. 
Crash. 
The Poem is over.

TOGETHER

Darling! You're not listening to me: I had to do it,  
It wasn't a choice, honey - I didn't choose shit!  
  
Listen, I just really don't want to go on about that anymore,  
I want to know about you, How are you? I'm cool, what's the score?  
  
Are you sure you're okay? You've lost weight I can see,  
Are you coming down with something? Are you ill? C'mon tell me.  
  
What? Why are you harping on about that again?  
I've told you already, I had to. You'll want dinner soon, just say when.  
  
Okay, okay. It was because she wasn't good enough for you,  
You know that and she wouldn't go away when I asked her too.  
  
I asked her politely. I asked her to go.  
She said she was staying. I soon told her "no".  
  
She didn't back down, oh my love - she was ever so rude,  
Well, you know I don't stand that, it was a bad attitude!  
  
Listen to your mother! Don't interrupt me please.  
I'll clean up the blood later before anyone sees.  
  
Now, sweetie I wasn't sure what pudding you'd like, Semolina or Sticky Toffee?  
Come on you can treat yourself, just pick - which one will it be?  
  
Are we back to that? What again? You're overreacting this time,  
Oh Honey, I've done this before. You knew that didn't you and it all worked out fine.  
  
Gosh, darling! You didn't know? Pumpkin that so sweet and naive,  
Why do you think they all 'left'? That's the problem, they wouldn't leave.  
  
One was poisoned, one 'fell', each one of them planned,  
One crossed the road too early, each died at my hand.  
  
I killed your father too so it would be perfect - just you and me,  
No-one else will be good enough, my sweet - forever, it will be.

AUTO-PROMOTION

Sorry I’m late, I’ve just hopped off the plane,
Was summoned for skills that have brought me much fame

I was in Greenland. Yes really, an unusual place to go,
Because I’m the best salesmen in the world, you know

Why was I there? Well, selling snow of course,
Snow! I know, their most common natural resource

To the Eskimos nonetheless, they bought a truckload,
I’ve a new product for you, your mind’s gonna explode.

It’s young, fresh, exciting, fun, playful and stunning,
You better snap up this deal now before it goes running

Buy it, you’ll be the talk of the town - I promise you,
I’ve got others in wait, trust me it’s true

This product can dance, this product can sing,
In fact, this product can do most anything

This product can clean, this product can knit
Whatever you want, this product can do it

It’s ready right now, you can have it right away,
And it could be yours if you only just pay

Every dream that you had, every pleasure fulfilled,
No need for refunds, because you’ll be thrilled

In fact, there’s no end to its possibilities,
It’s goal, aim and objective is just to please

Honestly, it really is the ultimate prize,
Make a demand and watch as it complies,

What more do you want? What else to advertise?
What dreams do you have? Just fantasise

Speak them aloud and it will leap into action
What does it look like? I hope I meet your satisfaction

I’m selling myself, I’m the product you see,
Name the price and forever yours I will be

I’m made only just to submit to your will,
Any option is yours: fuck, marry or kill

I’m one of a kind, a willing slave for sale,
Buy me now, snap me up. Let me be your fairytale.

THE LAVENDER RAINCOAT

Hark! Drip, drop, plip and plop,
Spring rainfall begins, like it or not. 

As every good mother* knows,
Raincoats fend off the water's flow.

The hooded plastic-like waterproof must be sought out,
So that even in rain, your body remains in drought. 

Oh, the school bells will be ringing
As familial clasped hands are swinging 

Off to school, a foreboding grey sky
A brand new anorak, we must buy, buy, buy! 

Racks of coats in all tones glean,
Red, blue, orange, pink and green. 

Snap. One polyester snared my teeny-tot's eye,
At four years old, it cannot be passed by. 

It stood so clean, crisp, fresh, light, bright and new,
The raincoat of lavender, not purple, not blue. 

There could be no others, one that one,
The lavender had enticed, allured and won. 

No, Not allowed. The wallet closed, the cash was put back,
Cards no longer available, chequebook stayed in the rucksack. 

"Oh - no, no, no", Mother says "You don't want that one"
Sharp turn left, quick march off, that was that, lavender gone. 

A compromise of yellow with me just at a four year old size,
Yellow's fine I guess but now there's so much confusion inside. 

Brat that I was or am, I couldn't have the one I had wanted,
Price the same, fit looked right, so I was bemused and left haunted. 

I strode in at school in my second best yellow
and got along with the day like a good (clueless) little fellow 

This tale's poignancy only made sense to me later,
If lavender was a person then I was supposed to hate her. 

As you'll all have now guessed, I was a bonny young boy,
Lavender: to wear such a colour would bring outrage not joy. 

The first memory made, a thing my 'boyness' couldn't have,
The first lesson I learnt, that I should look and act like my dad. 

You know, that lavender raincoat has and will forever lay stain,
As society's first mark on my now scarred-up brain. 

*I know this should be parent but it is my mother in my memory specifically.

THE BOX, THE BODY AND THE BEAST

Rows and rows of boxes all spruced and lined up,
Each one has been checked and well-labelled enough.

They shine so invitingly with historical backing,
Each label firmly designated what's under the wrapping.

If you get the right box, or wrangle it somehow,
You're set for life, no questioning what, when or how

You see the boxes were written before you and me,
They've stacked themselves up throughout history.

Some forming newly, some fading fast,
Some are more stalwart and others smash like glass

We must respect that tradition, history and community is upheld,
No risking one wisecracker collapsing the shelves.

To dodge the label, box and the fate that's inside,
Brings about something so transgressive, deemed insidious lies.

Yet, it's not all that bad, there are boxes of plenty
There are ones a bit wacky, not fruitful but steady.

And right in the centre, there is the golden shelf
Among which, your parents strive dearly to place yourself

The problem is that the boxes don't work
One size doesn't fit all and some people are off-curve

Square peg, round hole - something like that comes to mind,
stranger yet still when there's no peg even to find.

It's a dangerous game to think "outside the box"
The story isn't written that way, you've messed up the plot

No order, no rules, no damn compliancy,
Get back here this instance, fall in line with us please

But I have a box of my very own making,
Not completely original, from many cultures I'm taking.

But my box is out there, and it shall remain,
Standing proudly alone, ahead of its game.

The box is flamboyant and a whirlwind of ideas,
The ups are ecstatic and the downs ablaze with tears. 

There are phobias of cucumbers, of dogs and sunlight,
Tricks in the box are brimful with delight

Legs behind head, plaited fingers, the lot
It doesn't stop there, physicality is not all you've got.

You're keen, smart, resourceful and you've learnt beyond most
You've seen genius too - melted your brain to toast

Now you don't know if the box is really right
Was it fabricated all along, a trick just to fight

They made you believe that your box was created outside
But with the systems permission, that hardly deserves pride

You look at your box and your look at yourself
You look at your body and the thing inside as well

They are all different parts, some faker than others
They lie side beside, connected like brothers

The most sombre note yet is that one is astray
Despite your beckoning, it's still not here today

He'll check in time-to-time to see the ship's running
But he's not in the body, the box - he's gone running

But you are all three connected, the box, body and beast
When none are united, sheer reality is creased 

Play through the motions, you know the box well
You body moves with actions, that's easy to tell

Maybe some day, you'll all be truly united,
Or maybe perhaps this is a hope that's rose-tinted and short-sighted.

THE CREATURE BEHIND THE CURTAIN

The curtain was pulled, wrenched off and peeled back,
No ordinary curtain, we know that's a fact.
What lay behind cannot be placed into language,
The curtain of course, is one you know well,
It's all you've ever known and most likely will do.

Darker than black, crisper than glass, 

But trespass you may, leave your body behind,
But where is the being? I thought you might ask,
You are the one that tore the barrier right down,
You entered the world of macabre and divine,
Slumped back down into your mortal recoil,
It was you that became supernatural, you see.

 
That's the entire point, words cannot vanquish,
You see it day by day and it covers nighttime as well,
Madness they call it, when you can see through,
The curtain blockade that some might trespass,
Stare into the void, gasp no air, pass no time,

Come now, isn't it obvious at this final repass?
Your spirit is bodiless as it lies on the ground,
Death is our answer - and wasn't it fine?
The being you see, was no stranger to foil.
A spirit, a god, a demon, a being beyond reality.

SUMMER ROULETTE

When you say you can take trash and turn it into treasure,
Sadly, the opposite statement we must also endure.

For one person's treasure remains trash to me,
And I do mean this poem to be taken most politely. 

Buttercups, bales of hay, bleating in the sun,
How could one argue with such springtime fun? 

Golden, fanning petals look upon clear blue sky - Delight!
Sheep and lambs graze, wool coats catching the light.

 
Meanwhile...A boy with a tissue is given a fright 

Atishoo! Atishoo! Hanki-less he calls,

That darn pollen will be his downfall 

His eyes puffy red, the white bloodshot through and through
The Benedryl's been taken, what good will that do? 

The sun gives a glare to his fragile red eyes,
No sunglasses to help stop the pain, as his retina fries. 

Buzz goes the bee in the nearby summer air,
Oh wait that's a wasp and I instantly scare. 

Wait, don't move! Stand still, it's better that way.
Ouch, now it's stung me, I should have run away. 

The wheezing is worse, the asthma's kicked in,
I'm sticky and sweating and my chest's clamping in. 

Flies to the left of me, nettles to the right,
The countryside haven sure is a delight. 

Foot in a cowpat, flies more numerous still,
I pant with horror as I prepare to mount that hill. 

All in the blaze of the midday summer sun,
Can't complain in the slightest, we're having such fun. 

Think to yourself of all the wonderful vitamin D,
Actually, screw that! Give me rickets, a dark room and a nice cup of tea.

THE EVIL GRIN

Pah. Evil you say, the guts and gore
Spielberg had special effects darling

Dead is dead and you feel it no more
What I do best, is more evil for sure 

See, the thing to remember
The thing to revere
Is that it lurks inside each one of you dear

Some minds are weaker, some bodies weaker still
But you'll all soon crack, if we find the right pill 

My favourite kind, the worst one to bear
The one that would have you tear limb from limb, hair from hair, 

You'll corrode to a wafer, a shell, a mere shadow of a being
That grinning scowl that appears, is the demon you're seeing 

He comes but a few times, no fear about that
But once you've seen the face of evil, there's no going back 

That grin, those eyes, they carve into your soul,
Your mind is now weary, damage has taken it's toll 

See the evil you question, the evil you seek
Is deep down inside you, buried down fast asleep 

A few small things rouse the beast deep inside
He takes over your mind and your own soul must hide 

That evil itself cannot be fought off
Your body's the vessel, no time to scoff 

You brought him forth, didn't you? 

You broke your control
Well buckle up darling, this won't be a stroll 

The devastation is done
The corpses laid bare 

The pills are scattered
The chair kicked from under there 

The demon called forth has no chance of losing
If he fails in his aims, then you'll be his choosing 

We wouldn't want that, deep breaths and keep calm
The demon gets both, eventually, that's part of his charm

THE WHITE RABBIT

The jackpot has been hit,
The Kraken unleashed.

Artistic licence set rules,
To unleash the beast.

So someone like me just can't help themselves,
From telling you all of a the glorious hell.

Pulled in one way, pushed towards another,
The guilt and the sin cause pain like no other.

Sometimes you'd wish that the whole thing would stop,
I can I tell you how to do it, if you dare take the drop.

There's a place behind here, alongside it you might say,
You can't get there alone but with help, it's child's play.

I know how to get there, I know what you'll see,
The crispness of clarity, the air flying free.

The beauteous find is of course very fleeting,
Too much of perfection and you won't return from it's greeting

Follow the white rabbit, spin round and around
And soon you find yourself tumbling down to the ground

The facade we're all in will soon start to crumble,
As the new reality peels back, all the terrors become mumble.

Then all of a sudden you're back in your shoes

It was over too quickly, that feeling you lose

You'll follow the rabbit again and again,
Takes more and more effort to get back there my friend

Your presence on earth is such a mundane escapade
The real world is behind it, you wish to just trade.

The problem remains, the only way to be there,
To be there with permanency gives you a scare.

Who cares of such things,
Mortality is mirage.

You know what's behind it,
You've touched it full blast.

And so you resolve to escape fully this time,
That's the last we will say in this solemn rhyme.