Dreaming of Tigers

Dreaming of tigers
I awoke to find
A hungry cat
Asleep on a windowledge
Having spent all night
Fighting the tiger's
Of my mind
Now I know
That only
Tuna
Will do.

Streetdogs

streetdogs

on the Cerro das Mos

no fishermen

just dogs

looking for

earlyevening snacks

scouring the wastelands

of backyard highrise flats

and leftout/ leftover rubbish-bags

streetdogs

just hangingout

without-fishermen

no street-cred

too many

underfed

wild dogs

some graveyard cats

and no fishing nets

80's Seats

80's seats
on a 90's bus
like my first shell-suit
and Bro's

Juggle

My cat likes to juggle
She can do some pretty nice tricks
She's only been learning for two weeks
And she can already do 3 ball with her eyes shut
Yesterday I saw her on my window ledge
Doing columns and cat tennis
I don't expect that she'll be juggling with fire
Any day soon
But 4 paws at a time,
That's definitely in her realm

Rocketship

Friday
blasting through
spacehead
i'm cloudy
and I'm back again
inbetween cloud and space
i can't fly my own rocketship
i don't know how to navigate
i've just enough fuel for landing
without streetsigns
black or blue
if it's the moon
then that'll have to do

Asleep on the Radiator

a change of direction
while i was cooking my dinner
i thought you were asleep
but, no
you were just thinking things over

When Will He Who Hath Taken Away The Sins Of The World Be Famous

Jesus was an 80's kid
He liked Bros
Died on the cross
Tore his jeans
For our sins
Son of God
Saw them on Top of the Pops
When he'd done his miracles
He'd take his Disciples down to the disco
John the Baptist
Loved his Kraftwerk
And Mary Magdelene
Played the synth

Page Watching

I've been page watching
For the past few weeks
Mostly during my lunchbreak
Or when I'm on the bus


Some people call it reading
But I think they're missing the point
I don't just look at the words
I look at the spaces and the numbers too


I find second-hand books the most rewarding
You can trace the signs of age
The imprint of ownership
In every crease and every fold


I know what you're going to say
Why not just stare at a blank page
If you're not interested in the characters or the plot
Then why bother to even look


But for me it's not about what's there
But what's not
And after an afternoon of page watching
I might go and read a book

Sandwiches

How do they know
When they come
Or where they go
Every day
I go too late
And I'm left
With no breadcake, barm or butty
They must think I'm nutty

Ducks V's Swans

You need ducks
To do the dishes
Stick their bums up
And hunt for fishes


Swans are all majestic
No one ever sees them
Get their heads wet


But I'm sure they still have odd days
When they forget

The Mouse in the House

Blackpool 4 Leyton Orient 2

LAUGHING DONKEYS............FREE
DONUTS......................5 for £2
CHARITY BAKING APPLES.......10p
SEASIDE DRIZZLE.............intermittent
BONNIE WEE MARKET...........more often than not
COFFEE AND A MUFFIN.........£1
BATMAN & ROBIN..............with two cans of Stella
ALAN BENNETT................50p
............................what a lovely fella

Turtle Talk

Crocodiles, sharks and hungry fush
You sea turtles
Have got it tough

Vinyl Transfers

I like the mp3's with the crackles
The one's that jump and skip
They sometimes sound nicest
When the speakers are off


When you open Media Player
You can't watch them spin
They have this strange way
That they keep going


They don't come in megabytes
They have multiple values
And you still have to wait to see
What's on side 2

Cherry Socks

Raised on a diet of Roger McGough,
Cherry pop
And odd socks
I chose books
Over tooth decay and funny looks

To Bee or Not to Bee

Writing sometimes-poems
That are too short to read
Designed for bus trips
And busy bees
My short stories
Never got off their feet
But at least I'm keeping
The bees happy

Cats and Bats

Bats are all black
And they have ears
They can hear things
When it's dark
Their hearts are in the right place
Cats aren't just lazy in books
And caterpillars
Really do like trees

Tears

Different tears come

At different times
Some gush
And others flood
Some happen when you're in a rush
And some even fall
When you're not in love
These tears can't be classified
There's no need

They're in me

Poem for Andy Cole

You scored my favourite goal
Do you remember the one
The ball came in from the left
Or was it the right
One touch
And the crowd were on their feet
You blinked
And I missed it

Poem for Paul Scholes

The little magician
Popping up where you'd least expect him
Sometimes with his head
Other times his toes
He could use anything
He was such a good technician