the poetry of tom scott

The Tiger is Dead

2011-03-04T16:59:00.000Z

Sorry,
Did I not tell you that the Tiger is dead?
Some greedy fucker shot him in the head,
Gutted him clean and took his heart
Gleaned the skin to sit before the hearth.

Sorry,
Did you not know that the Tiger is dead?
From whence he walked, things changed, he fled,
Morsels appealed, but only for a while
His coat fell foul, you know, went out of style
Some wondered if, by the grace of want,
He would recover, again shadow the font
But alas, this poor beast's path was fixed
His habitat, unbeknown, decaying, diseased.

Sorry,
Had you missed the news that the Tiger is dead?
Were you under a rock when his eyes they said,
"I had hoped for longer, to see this out,
I'm sorry guys, we've lost this bout."
He meant well, no, he really did
But foresight wasn't to lift the lid
And so, though blind, he ambled on
Lost and starving, seen by no one.

Sorry,
It seems to me you are oblivious,
To the Tiger's death, his parting breath,
Take a seat, be still, I'll refresh
The faculties that often test
Our capacity for remembering, hope
The one so often, a noose, can't cope,
You see, the prowl is over, the prey is gone
There is no king, when one rules alone
The territory is barren, a desert, cursed
The lining bought for dignity's purse
Which strings up citizens, united, worse
Off than they ever have been,
The Tiger is dead,
Have you not seen?

And go

2011-02-24T12:41:00.000Z

Upon these shoulders
Upon these words
Upon the lives
And advice absurd,
Upon the ignorant
Who beneath the pale
Doctor futures
With oppressive scales.
Within the whisper
Without the mouths
Of muffled heroes
Too proud to shout,
In pursuit of favour
Purpose and life
I sink still rising
In and out
of strife.
Their purpose secret
Incognito
Fools
Born of affluence
Product of tools,
Engineered to defeat
Control, explode
Taken on lorries
Bearing a load,

Too burdened to maintain
To sustain
And know
That there is anything other
Than to come
And go
And go.

a pity, a self

2011-02-10T19:25:00.000Z

in your face
and in your place
a negative embossed
thinks its winning a race
winning a place
in hearts and minds
testing the hardship
in order to find
a pity, a self
a dust on the shelf
that gathers and harbors
the testimony of time
the carpet universal
that covers your prime
and the vantage you seek
from high horses that buck
throws dreams into dust
and say an almighty fuck
you
for your ignorance is violence
lack of hospitality a disgrace
and its all I can do
to walk away
in your face
in your place
to walk away
in your face
run your race.

Blown

2010-07-08T21:00:00.002+01:00

I wheeled my mind through sandy streets
envisaged the scene, the multiple beats
of heart and mind and duties bound
sacrifice, service, all that’s wound
in the wire and dust, chemical equations
the call to commit, religious persuasions
that evoke a fight beyond tangible means
the encompassing essence to which one leans
blinding emotion, of birth and death
leaves a heart, no solace, bereft
searching reason, no reason I find
only the cobbles that bump the ride
the delicate, intricate, hidden and sealed
awaiting a trigger, a figure, a yield
the corpses of war, the ghosts of peace
dance together upon tarmacadam streets
that lead and function, guide and save
the sons of material, daughters deprave
that serve a purpose unto themselves
secure a voice, mute, that tells
of nihilistic virtue, dressed in ink
a tick, tick, boom, incapacity to think
for distance silences realities unknown
sweaty thumb, depression,
sanctity
blown.

A tack you will not know

2010-06-01T00:47:00.001+01:00

I sailed with a conviction
Into waters strange to me
Alien navigation
Another world breaking,
Over stern words,
Worlds we flee.

Nights were warm
Blew over me
Balmy till the dawn
My purpose bound in hope
No vision of horrors unborn.

Then from the tannoy, blistering
The dream into array
Words of warning
'Heed me,
About turn,
Or come what may.'

From the skies an evil spin
Thundered upon our deck
Before events unfolded
Our vessel now a wreck,

Masks began their revealing
Nothing to the death
Deep waters began rising
We drowned
Out of breath,

Defence became a suicide
As friends left to the unknown
Paradise lost, defeated
Prophecy sinking, blown,

Our cargo, dead weight,
Tainted
Sustenance, disdained,
Stretchers saturated
Filled canvasses, blood stained.

My heart dies, has departed
For hate has ripped it clean
From the cavity of hope
Is captured, ransomed, weaned,
Upon the breast of despair
Suckled, broken, bereft
I sail on, homeless
To those for whom we left.

Their arms now my only longing
Their embrace the only thought
Itinerant collective
Rivering tears, embodied, distraught,

Amassed in the struggle,
A tack you will not know
As we search the winds eternal
A fortune for the under tow.
We go.

Furled (11.7.09)

2009-07-11T14:25:00.004+01:00

Furled

I woke up this morning

Chimed into the day

Went through my ablutions

Wash, dress and pray.

I left my room

Through the corridor swept

Creaking doors led to others

They slept, I crept.

I called to the beds

‘Wake and be ready,

Say your prayers, make haste,

Breakfast, we’ve made ye.’

There was one girl weeping

As often she did

At her bedside, kneeling

I approached, she hid.

‘What is it child?’

I was of course in a rush

‘My bed sheets’ she wept

‘They’re, ruined, they’re wet.’

The tirade through my brain,

‘Get up child, at once,

Pull your skirt to your shoulder,

This is a bed, not a font.’

From the fold of my dress

I pawed til I found

The double strapped leather

That the cobbler had bound

Her bare cheeks waited tense

‘Relax, or you’ll get more’

She let them fall down

Into her I tore.

I think she was screaming

But I couldn’t hear

As the lash passed my head

Deafened mine ear.

She fell, ‘On your feet,

Gain some control,

Why every night?

Do you enjoy such a toll?’

Eventually I stopped

Washing was to be done

Girls to re-order

Evil to shun.

Breakfast was in silence

Save for that sound

Of obedience, adherents

Trustfully bound.

The day passed by

Without major event

The Priest paid a visit

Had confessions, then left.

Some girls looked distraught

As they left his room

Finally, they’ve confessed,

And not a bit too soon.

Once all were asleep

I retired back to here

De-robed and prayed

Made sure my mind was clear.

I fell asleep in a moment

Not a problem in the world

Save for the children

Their sin sadly furled.

Shadows cast (26.6.09)

2009-06-26T20:23:00.004+01:00

Shadows cast

Source, sensitivity, exposure

Objects cast, disclosure

Patterns noir

that shift and shape

Shadows eternal

distort, create

distance, presence,

hidden and known

kinetic darkness

on the breeze, is blown -

futures from present past

fleeting, greeting

shadows cast,

light is born

illuminates

shadows its task,

it's mandate,

create.

Yours, and you mine (7.6.09)

2009-06-07T20:28:00.001+01:00

Yours, and you mine

He is my heart beat

And I am his

A father to his son

A son to his kiss

The raison d'être

The being alive

The unconditional love

The bond that thrives

And tells of a tale

That bewitches and moves

Through souls that run

Through transcendent grooves

The pulse beats eternal

The rhythm a rhyme

That joins us son

Yours, and you mine.

Breeze - (1.6.09)

2009-06-04T20:59:00.003+01:00

To Doc ~ We love you

Breeze

Breeze of life so transient

Sweeps swift

Sweeps through the soul

The eternal, momentary

re-unified, re-told

is the story, unique

unfolding

swims deep,

surfaces in hope

the heavenly finally

realised

reclaimed what

once eloped.

Away and stray from me (13.5.09)

2009-05-16T00:29:00.002+01:00

Away and stray from me

Take your leave,

Take your power,

Delay no longer here

I want space

I hold no fear.

Walk silent, walk alone

Reflect

The sun it shone

A light into your mind

Take heed

New sight

You're blind.

The track will guide you

I've known, some time, the one

That winds and offers little

Much

In the ways, the brittle

Definition

That changes with the wind

Signs appear conclusive

Turned around

Pure

Elusive,

Destined beyond favour

Drawn, incomplete

Nurtured by those chosen

Hand picked

Intent, frozen.

Never, as though written,

Freed and free to roam

You will know a torment

Dark shadows, voices

Set the tone,

Play out your days in ignorance

Fear your nights, ney drink

For sights too bleak for recognition

Sand in which you sink.

I will forget about you

And no doubt recall again

Intention will not suspend you

A bridge, a dying flame

That flickers in the half light

Sickens in the day

For you are set

Are solid

In the void

Away and stray

Me,

avoid,

Away and stray

(obey).

Sanctity of purpose (10.5.09)

2009-05-10T20:39:00.000+01:00

Sanctity of purpose

Scarcity of rhyme

Mixed up notions amble

On in spite of time

Keep the truth handy

Glove compartment, insecure

A revolver in the digits

Carousels we all procure

In the name of seeking thrills

Coconut and shy

Bowled over for a coin

The gamble is a lie

In which hope discloses promise

But promise is away

Dancing on the syntax

Dancing the words away

And yet the rabbit bounces

From the top hat every night

It's ears getting longer

Retires a hare, a deformed sight

Smoking clowns skulk in shadows

Masked, invisible

Craving the gallows

Drenched sponges shed their fill

Til the ground becomes a river

Swollen, running on

The tears a tributary

Emotion flows, is gone

And purpose is a felled tree

Rolling toward the drop

As the waterfall gathers momentum

To lead to go, lead to stop

(rot).

Hands (6.5.09)

2009-05-07T08:18:00.000+01:00

Hands

Hands move slowly

Consistent, smooth

A tantric, elegant

Cog centered groove

Greased in teeth

That mould and meld

The every moment

The seconds felled

Rings exposed

Harnessed by chimes

That always, every

Climax rhyme

To crescendos kind

Crescendos cruel

The 'I am god'

'I am a fool'

The split is taken

Memory committed

Then the next

Nothing omitted

That offers extension

Chronological miles

High and mighty

That all the while

Move away

From lives that were

Gathers the present

Seldom confers

The voice of reason

Echoes of past

That drag the screaming

On top, on task

For futures only

Unfold, evolve

From hands that nurture

Caress, connect and solve

Revolve.

Answer-phone (5.5.09)

2009-05-05T21:59:00.003+01:00

Answer-phone

I left a message on the phone

Left him there and there alone

To keep and speak on my behalf

To communicate because I can't

Wait to try, wait to see,

again

Realise existence, existence

lame

An ever shifting, evolution

Natural perfection, injected, looming

Creeping through the wrinkle lines

Tall, obscuring, making blind,

And so I wait, count and shiver

For cold is the wait

For you to deliver

quiver.

Reach / out of reach (4.5.09)

2009-05-04T20:53:00.002+01:00

Reach / out of reach

Why is my faith not enough

A fumbling, mumbling, feeble bluff

That comes to the rescue,

Comes to the fore

Presents itself a candidate

When more is prompting more.

It is a voice muffled

Gainst the reverberating din

Modernity's race of progress

The distance from our sin,

Science offers adverts

Join and never again

See the sand transparent

Glass shatters when in pain.

Prayer is but a soliloquy

A speech put out to tender

Take me up I dare you

Odds go good, good to slender.

Maintaining the simple

Walking while one talks

Is a leap beyond me

Is a shadow that stalks,

Restrain is but an order

And distance beckons close

The door behind you

A jar

Draft through it blows,

An air of drifting permanence

Hangs, gallows wait to beseech

This is the will, a freebie

Given freely, given to each,

Now reach

Distraction (4.5.09)

2009-05-04T20:51:00.001+01:00

Distraction

I am about distraction

And it is about me

Constant, ever changing

Fickle as the breeze.

I breathe the sights before me

Inhale, consume, eject

A process of self-destruction

Building mirrors to reflect

The burgeoning reality laid bare

Run ragged, raw and ruined

Outlets clogged, congestion

No one in, no one out, indeed

This is a confinement solitary

A jacket straight and true

The liminal thread securely

Holds in the material blue.

And what honesty can save

What honestly is out there

A pipe dream and salvation

Too spoilt now to care

For this is evidence revealing

A chest, contents enhanced,

A fakeness and a longing

Distracted now I dance

(strong stance).

Sense Making (9.8.01)

2009-05-04T17:55:00.003+01:00

Sense Making

Last night,

I might,

Have done

What was

needed.

Last night,

I might,

not have

done what

was needed.

This morning

I woke up,

did I do

what was

needed?

This morning

I woke up,

did what

was needed.

Of tonight

And tomorrow,

I could do

what is

needed.

Of tonight

And tomorrow,

I'll do what

is needed.

Yesterday

I knew

Something,

Today

I know

more,

But today

Is soon

Yesterday,

And tomorrow

I'll know

more...

Ranking (30.3.99)

2009-05-04T16:06:00.000+01:00

Ranking

I want lolly-pops and

buckets and spades,

jelly and ice-cream,

plastic cups of lemonade.

I want a need to do today

and never worry about tomorrow

I want a need to do today

and not to think of yesterday.

I want to laugh ‘till it hurts,

then sleep in the car,

I want to go to the park

and for the journey to seem far.

I want to look in the skies

on a snowy Christmas Eve

and know that he’s coming,

to get excited and believe.

I want to stay up late,

get tired watching T.V

and look forward to the weekend,

when I’d see my Daddy.

I need to see an existence,

when nothing else matters,

except doing today

and going to bed shattered.

Puppet (2.2.07)

2009-05-04T16:03:00.002+01:00

Puppet

You say I expect a puppet

Someone to dance for me on a string

Controlled and dependent

But this to me means not a thing.

I am confused to hear I don’t listen

When the words I hear resound

With heart-felt replies, emotion

As always abound, are found.

To be denied blood in the name of the stubborn

To be turned down and round and out

To be shut out and rejected

Causes pain, anger, the desire to shout.

And it takes all within me

Takes that which I cannot claim to be my own,

A resistance necessary and impossible

possible to prevent

To see this overthrown,

And past the current funk

That hangs and suffocates

I look to the horizon,

Commit to memory and take

solace from the truth,

From the perspective we’ll soon possess,

Looking back

Moving on,

Back to all that matters,

Everything more

And nothing less,

Everything

and still

stringless –

puppet.

Always present (6.2.07)

2009-05-04T16:01:00.000+01:00

Always Present

Well, just like your older brother,

I told your Dad and mother,

that at one the thought does count

As presents before you mount,

Things you don’t see

Don’t know what to do with,

Things lost in time

So no gift my dear from me;

Except that which lasts

Beyond stages of development

You’ll always have my love

And that, this day, is sent,

present.

Petals of perfection (12.2.99)

2009-05-04T15:59:00.001+01:00

Petals of perfection

There is a rose

A perfect rose

As sweet as the morning dew

A scent to die for

The rose around which I revolve

The rose that makes my heart sink

The flower that opens with glory

And sleeps so delicate and pink

Picked out like a blessing

And this rose, the rose I hold

Is a perfect rose

As sweet as the morning dew

A scent to die for

Evergreen, ever seen

Darling, precious…..rose.

Parachute not landing (29.12.06)

2009-05-04T15:55:00.002+01:00

Parachute not landing

I attached myself to the maypole

That I may fit, go around

Spiralled with perfect ribbon

Glowing the sun gone to ground.

And I sought a daisy picking meadow

Tittering voices, distant praise,

A place unchartered and beginning,

At the end, destined by beginning.

In the motor car lost on the highway

Alone, yet surrounded, all the same

Cruising, straight-line, one direction

Junctions simply serve the insane,

The ribbons somehow knotted in the middle

Footsteps forced to stumble, trip and fall

Motors cease, burn and stall

And gazing up, seated here, spring time

Snow falls on the fingers, biting frost

A river merges, land to liquid

Shaky is the post up ahead

And not so much a case of undo this

As a plea now to be untied

Tried and tested are the ways once accepted,

No longer viable, no more to abide,

For the forces are dragging all the pieces

The sense is now senseless, making sense

And the reds, greens, white, blue and purple

Merge, I cannot see anymore.

The maypole sinking, fast, can’t offer

Ritual, security, ritual, or song

All that defined once this moment

All is somehow gone so wrong

Taking the razor of self-pity

That once was a toy, a cry for help

I have little choice but to sever

The binding, tearing wrists, so I tear

And the maypole disappears, it is traceless

The former without proof and gone

Apart from the fragment on my arm, a tether,

I scramble, I scratch at mud banks

I surface on land as yet unknown

With only a bracelet of former glories

A horizon breathing deep, drawing me in,

Any vision of a time set in stone

Shattered, hung out, left alone,

This is the new dance, emerging, fast

This is the way, wind blown, first consuming gasp

My sail filled,

parachute, not landing

Falling, stable, known, alone,

still standing.

Pain's interrogation (17.5.00)

2009-05-04T15:52:00.000+01:00

Pain’s Interrogation

‘Mr Scott, I now blindfold you

I’ll now black out all around

You can hear the footsteps now,

So much more aloud.

Oh the sweat drips from your forehead

And those sweet tears scar your face

But who can hear you in here

Who’s chartered this here place?

Oh, kneel Mr Scott and quiet please, I pray

Can you feel this, my gun?’

Barrel beckons bullet

‘And to me this is just fun.

What can you see, now I mean

in those black cotton folds,

Those visions in your mind,

Mental treasure chests of gold.

No, I thought not, oh weep you fool, weep

But listen when I say

This be your first, this be your last

But you’ll always hear

this gun blast.’

Optional Extras (1.8.01)

2009-05-04T14:42:00.002+01:00

Optional Extras

Voices

Choices

Whirl

Around

Somehow

Falling

Toward

the

Ground.

Whirling

Endless

Stuck

Tooth,

Somewhere

Jabbing

The

Gums

Truth.

Denture

Dementia

Glued

Roof,

Only

Long

Can

One

Re-moved.

Beginning

End,

Round

The

Bend,

Messages

Many,

Too

Many

Send.

Taken

And

Interpreted,

Mistakes

Happen

Often,

Bury

Peace

Deep

Breathing

Coffin.

Options

Pass

By,

Some

Are

Seen,

Often

Nothing

Left,

Where

They

Once

Have

Been.

Smiles

And

Cries,

Too

Many

'Why's',

Voices

Choices

Whirl

Around

Somehow

Falling

Toward

The

Ground.

Nothing come close to what we are ... (11.3.99)

2009-05-04T14:39:00.001+01:00

Nothing come close to what we are ...

Imagine your wildest dream

Then triple it four times

Imagine your biggest number

Then triple it four times.

Take all the jewels and gold

Put the world’s money in a pot

Take the biggest trip

You’ll not even be close

Or anywhere near what we’ve got.

See the four corners of the world

Circle the earth ten times

Then imagine sacrificing

All this once, one time. -

Delivering love on your door step

Is what this gift brings

Take it from me now

For it’s now my heart sings.

'Never stop exploring' (12.6.01)

2009-05-04T14:36:00.000+01:00

‘Never stop exploring’

I’m stood at the foot of a mountain

At the roots of rock and scree

Looking to the future

Seeking to understand what it is I see

There’s a glory in conquering

An achievement in looking down

A sense that the next we’ll better

What, we this time, found

‘Never stop exploring’

That’s in every word, and thought, and look

Of two people now discovering

Discovering to be understood

Hand in hand, foot over land

Rain and sun and snow

Paths unearthed, new life birthed

Rain and sun and snow -

Of landscape varied

Beauty scaled

Routes of opportunity shown,

Always seeking, never ignoring

He, who all this, has sown

Miss me (2.2.07)

2009-05-04T14:35:00.001+01:00

Miss me?

Do you miss me

Behind those brazen eyes

Do you miss me

Or should I go and confide

Do you miss me

Or is this just the way

Do you miss me

How do you keep at bay

The love, the look,

The time it took

To bring us to today

Do you miss me?

Milling creation (1.8.01)

2009-05-04T14:33:00.001+01:00

Milling Creation

Filling station

Pump me up

Filling station

Fill my cup

Filling station

In desert sands

Filling station

Meets demands

Filling station

Ever full

Filling station

Pumps to pull

Filling station

Dispensing fuel

Filling station

Many a man rules

The filling station

to a

Milling creation.

Love true (14.2.04)

2009-05-04T14:31:00.000+01:00

love true

Could I have perceived,

Through dream or vision,

Through pictures,

fantasy

of mind,

All that has entered,

Completely gripped,

caught,

Us in this dreamlike thought,

Could I have imagined

In all that I hoped

For one so beautiful,

so sea-like and true,

The surprise, in each glance,

Is my answer,

does enhance,

The depth to which I dive

in you,

love true.

Love honed (14.2.06)

2009-05-04T14:29:00.001+01:00

Loved honed

My love she speaks of unconditional

love

and rudiments of notions as such,

My love she knows

whatever the type

whatever the moment

joy or tear

wipe,

That I am here,

without reservation,

and our love the cocoon

ensuring preservation,

Of something unique

never again known,

unconditionally true

to hearts

loved honed.

Know no bounds (9.3.99)

2009-05-04T14:27:00.001+01:00

Know no bounds

Know no bounds

To what will be in us

Restrict no element

Of all that we can be.

Happy Birthday -

Seventeen

We were born -

5 months we’ve seen

Love

In all,

Love

It calls,

I love you

Love you

You.

June Carter Cash, in faith (28.12.06)

2009-05-04T11:37:00.003+01:00

June Carter Cash, in Faith

When everybody's looking for a June Carter

A piece to erase a conversation starter

The plan just isn’t sustainable

Life just ain’t tenable

Cause dreams of wild rodeo’s, bucking the trend

Fantasies of hearts healing, eased to mend

Won’t pay the rent in the suburb darling

Won’t provide goods for the meantime darling

And June Carter rested on the shoulders of Cash

Spirit breathing, spirit living, beauty-queen sash

But the legacy of the man in black

Rhythm for his blues, the pathway out of the crack

Was that love of the kind to which most are blind

Is a spiral, soul winner, so hard to find

And it does indeed burn, this circular furnace

Out from within, sometimes a burden

But the only thing saving us from us

Is the promise of a higher trust

Born of the souls seeking right

Fidelity, whole, begging us to react

With the courage of lions, the guts of a man

Torn away from everything without a plan

Building for himself an empire true

Beating to the step of rhythm and blues

Dogged by the past - spurred by the light

Future in his hands, holding tight

Til the dawn burns bright, casts all aside

And rewarded are those that see, confide

The drum beats loud in the ears of those

Finally rolling in the tears and glow

Of power in the form of a plane unknown

Germination now of all once sown

Released to a place only angels have flown

This is our peace, this is our cease

This is the dichotomy of of our disease

This is the time, this is the place, this the dichotomy

We each must face

in faith.

‘Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.’ (10.1.01)

2009-05-04T11:35:00.001+01:00

‘Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.’

Keep it to yourself, Jack, it’ll never matter that much

Or not enough to cause yourself the hassle that comes

as such.

Secrets over and over but peace in mind you’ll find

I can’t promise any more than the ambiguous I fear

Not anything concrete,

as such.

Thought processes processed and need be, need be not, mulled over

Running around the mental race, space

Any direction, I doubt

as such.

Stream of consciousness followed religiously

As a theology of thought to guide

But apart from pride

Try to set aside

There appears very little reason to do this anymore

as such.

It is written (10.1.01)

2009-05-04T11:33:00.001+01:00

It is written

Do you think I’m blind, find

Under your bed

The truth

Written like a manuscript

Over your face, I’m

No sleuth

Mind over matter

Guilt can be scattered

All over in a flash

Dash

Gone

But the real is hiding

Lying, abiding

And the pain

Waits all

Alone.

Incinerate, create (27.4.01)

2009-05-04T11:30:00.001+01:00

Incinerate, create

When the forest burns ablazing

And fire leaps the trees

And nothing in man’s power

Can beat the hairdryer breeze,

When the floor is turned to ashes

And the hoses efforts to gas

The destruction seems to obliterate

All that lies its path.

And yet from these coals come beauty

A freshness of grass and flower

Soon the woods hold again

That environmental power,

The animals feed once more

And the birds make new nest

Activity consumes

And no longer reigns the mess.

Light the blue touch paper

Ignite the words to come

For it’s in the vulnerability

Revelation is indeed done.

See beyond smoke rising

Neither attack nor defend

But let the flames go dancing

For soon they’re sure to end.

And after all has smouldered

After it has passed

The brightest word will glisten

From that burnt-out flare, the last,

No longer on it’s knees

But rooted in a cause

The forest breathes vitality

In the distance … waterfall … applause …

Hide and weak (18.10.06)

2009-05-04T11:28:00.001+01:00

Hide and weak

Withdraw, recede

Self-pity and greed

Wallow and sink

And fall and think

About the things that strike deep right now

About the feeling, but not about how

The situation came about

The need to scowl

The need to fight

For in the eyes of truth,

Which stare,

Is the reflection

Screaming

‘This is not fair’

For love is not a cloak for gain

Does not disappear in the darkness of pain

Yet somehow

Sometimes

Or so it seems

You can misplace

Your cloak of grace.

Hide face.

For the game of hide

Is for the weak

And I am not counting

Before I seek

To make a mends and carry on

I am ready

Steady

And on

When, o when

Will the day rise

When into this truth

You see

And arise

Above and beyond

Worry and fear

And objective

Soar

And we are near,

Together, as one

Loving and on,

Bound and tight

With truth our sight,

O when?

Here (8.5.01)

2009-05-04T11:25:00.001+01:00

Here

My friends they are so beautiful

And they’re beautifully made,

There’s something about their hearts, you see,

Something our God gave.

In their laughter I see heaven

In their tears another side,

I know my friends, those with whom I pray

Those that for tears of joy I’ve cried.

I seek them in the summer,

And in the winter they’re just there,

I’ve never known them disappear,

Or any limit to their care.

I pray for their protection,

I hunger for their love,

For in this peace, there is so clear

Jesus, here, with us.

Go forth and multiply (30.5.99)

2009-05-04T11:22:00.001+01:00

Go forth and multiply

As we move into an unknown era

And nothing as ever is any clearer

As the end has past

And new ends are created

Waste not this time so eagerly awaited.

Conform to wishes, dreams, ambitions

Not the archaic, human condition

Fear not the options

Follow the blind

Take all from adrenaline

And here you will find

A place, a fortune

A means, a rest

A richness in person

A personal best

A test of person

A reason for living

A need to fulfil

To take, after giving.

In lives so varied

And paths under construction

Fate is decided

Let us see its production

No fear of failure

No reason to stop

No doubt in direction

Aim for the top

Seeking success

Being who we are

Make sure you remember

There’s no limit in how far.

Put into context grades and exams

Be who you are, for it’s all in your hands

Listen not to society and all that it preaches

And speak for yourself, cast away any weakness

Be who you are and demonstrate your ways

Because fellow leavers, these are the days …

Ghost house (20.9.99)

2009-05-04T11:19:00.001+01:00

Ghost house

... the crying widow won’t celebrate New Year,

take heed the heartless and hear ...

There’s a grave being dug

In London on the Docklands

Good, deep, expansive

To cope with the demand.

The Dome will house thousands

Dead and buried soon

But they will not see the Millennium

If they don’t see tomorrow noon.

The hospitals cater poorly

The commercial blood pumping

Money in the ghost house

Names sacrificed to mud.

The graveyard most expansive

But there’s no gold on A and E

The care cannot be intensive

As gravestones are calved with glee.

On your conscience be it

Be it on your conscience

Ever burying millions

Beneath your priceless nonsense.

flood (17.4.00)

2009-05-04T11:16:00.001+01:00

flood

Bullied like a child

Shown images obscene

Mystery surrounds all

All seems pretty, clean.

I can’t see the devastation

getting any clearer

Or as to why, though done

no wrong, I’m punished

now to see her.

Flooded like the meadow

Buried, all once nice,

Beneath the silt and river bedding

No bounds, she rolls, skin shedding.

The flowers wilt, cattle cling

Like the fruit in the wind to trees

And at their feet, without a care

The river gently laps, as if to tease.

As she regresses, back and forth

The level recedes, returns to its norm

The destruction left in her wake

Will do little to change

Or warn.

I like the river at my feet

To absorb her pleasured waters

I can’t see the reason

In drowning me now

Damn, something

somewhere

faltered.

Face value (17.5.00)

2009-05-04T11:15:00.000+01:00

Face value

Skull through the skin

Where illness has sucked

The flesh of radiance,

And the sugars within you

Are honed in combs

But insoluble they remain

In desolate tombs.

Balloons in the throat

Choke reason in the brain

And stop the doors shutting

In the head, eyes blamed,

For seeing is believing

And I’d rather ignore,

The sapping condition

That still seems to crave

That little bit more.

Dead pot (17.5.00)

2009-05-04T11:14:00.001+01:00

Dead pot

I sink like a slippery snake

Into sand, silky soft

And I feel between my toes

As the grain flows

Every part sucked further in.

Past knee and hip

Chest and lip

Underneath I feel its grip

Release I plead

Like a dog to a lead

But I am guided like a ship.

Hole in the hull

Like the gaps in the skull

Every space vacant to accommodate matter.

As the sea seals the surface

Kiln like in a furnace

Preserved and destroyed

Stimulated, toyed

Sink to rot,

still,

dead pot.

Cry into the red river tributary (31.12.06)

2009-05-04T11:01:00.005+01:00

Cry into the red river tributary

How much blood is enough

Before you are declared ‘tough’

How much before it ends

To what ends will you defend

That which routines your office

Your day, your mode of being

How many pits and coffins

How many refugees now fleeing?

I see a man in a white suit

White from head to toe

Blazer suit, shirt, ties and belt

Trousers, socks and shoes

Head to toe.

As he walks towards me he continues

And I turn to follow his gaze

All I see as his back becomes clear

Is the fruit of violence, of fear.

On the plush white surface

His soul is bare

Maybe from the marrow of limbs

As they are torn, torn to tare,

Shrapnel, rounds and shells

Split and soaked and I stare

Crimson through to his skin

As the wounds exposes, infected, in-

volve the revolvers of man

He is dying as he passes – lose or win?

I stand close enough to see

But at a distance prevents a touch

As if I were watching TV

And on stand-by I could flick,

Just too much.

But no sport follows his steps

No weather reports distract as he falls

To his knees and face down in the dirt

Slowly loses to blood his white shirt.

And as I call it is all too late

Tome’s hands cover my mouth, I break

For suddenly the scene it expands

Ten more million before me, face down

I question my role, my position

As aware I ignored this condition

The plight of the innocent, the guilty,

Defined by life’s detail, guillotine,

Beheading the children asleep

As awake, fake, we keep

On driving the trawlers of death

The seabed raped and left bled

At the wheel I jump back, my hands red

Jump to see?

To see what I’ve murdered?

Too responsbile not too admit

To admit and change and do good

Implied, shown wanting and tried

In the gallows, we struggle to hide

Our crimes against humanity not so severe

That we would ever have the soapbox kicked clear

For the kicking is a right reserved

For those who have stepped up to serve

The governments of humans and rights

Frankly just wars, and frankly, just fights

That define our economic worth

Our purpose from conception to birth

And from here conditioned to breathe

Toxins, and never to conceive

That our direction could be corrupt, evil,

The bow to the devils tuned fiddle

And his tune we all play, disillusioned,

The notes to self, self alone, the confusion,

Is that my luxury costs beyond price tags,

Costs lives, and here is the fusion

The dichotomy burdening generations

Broken man, woman, all relations

And our ambivalent approach to quest

To answers support time’s test

Sees peace beaten and broken

White suited and crest fallen

The loves of loves joins the pile, another

All lost, losing, sister and brother,

When behind me I glimpse another

Billion gazing in union

And I turn, they know, they see

Our ryrs look to ground and in communion

Cry into the red river tributary

And all be it gradually

We move to those face down

And marry

Conscience to its creator

Taste and see for once and forever

Transubstantiation embodies us all

Broken we reform the mould

Vessels willing and floating

Through the mire, screaming and coping

In the thick of a place so thin

So far, so close, almost in,

Out of the plight, the destruction,

Now compassion the only instruction

As the unsewn we heal, repair

On and through, thread bare,

Enough, I’m not sure it can be

I guess you must say the same, the plea,

But exposure will one day come knocking,

The redeemed, dove clad and shocking

The military man into submission,

No gun, purely good’s-earth shattering

Confession

A blessing

Confession.

Christmas Goose (17.5.00)

2009-05-04T10:59:00.002+01:00

Christmas Goose

Whispering in my ear

Like an angel in the night

The sweetest sounds

Peace, the air, resounds.

Tip-toeing her fingers

Like a soldier through the night

Tantalising tenderness

Love’s arms hold, caress.

Eyes lighting gently

The scene tranquil warm

The midnight moon silhouettes the skin,

All soon is torn.

Screams in the ear canal

Like a train through a tunnel

Send reverberations rocketing

Clogging up this funnel

Blocking flow, the constants go

All anarchy breaks loose

And reason, ration, coherence

Lay neck broken,

Christmas goose.

Carcass picked, bones lay bare

Gore contrasts, white on red

Rotting away slow in the sun

Battered, baked, bled.

Tomorrow in full plume

Like the swan protected by her Queen

This scene, this break, heart

break,

Will have gone

and will soon have been.

Each night (3.5.00)

2009-05-04T10:56:00.001+01:00

Each night

I go to bed wishing I could see you

I go to bed hoping you care

I see your face like a thousand photos

I kiss your lips, I stroke your hair

When I see you next I hope not to cry

Being without, I don’t understand why.

Still (3.5.00)

2009-05-04T10:53:00.002+01:00

Still

Everything hangs

Sea gull above cliffs

Nothing lands

Everything still

All around

Above the ground

All hangs still

Waiting until.

No motion moves

Nothing stirs

And I look all around

And above the ground

Suspended head height

I can’t touch the stationary

Float kite like.

No sound vibrates

No light flickers

No dog barks

No child bickers

The clashing silence

Deafens the drum

And something somewhere

Silently hums.

Louder and louder

This non-existent noise

Playing brain strings

Pain gains poise

And I scream like a victim

I appeal for help

But all is hanging

Resting stale, still, still shelf.

Free me (3.5.00)

2009-05-04T10:51:00.000+01:00

Free me

Where you at?

I can’t see through blackened windows

I can’t hear muffled words

What, where is your thinking.

Tearing me apart

Limb from limb, shredded

Deserve, want, prefer

More, a lot, than this.

Can’t see through black

Hear through black

Efforts rejected in my face

I don’t like

Don’t want to be

Tortured in this place.

Free me.

Bomb (3.5.00)

2009-05-04T10:48:00.002+01:00

Bomb

Bomb blast

At last

Anticipation fulfilled

Inevitable

Against all will

Done, dusted, sealed.

Plants watered

Things sorted

Up to a point that is

For tomorrow trembles

Shakes and cries

As if to say

‘Your hope

Your demise’

Eyes confirmation

Of their own revelation

Tell all that lips

Forgot to mention

Sleeping now

Beneath blanket lids

New hope dawns brightly

In their midst …

Bill and Tom (9.5.01)

2009-05-04T10:45:00.002+01:00

Bill and Tom

‘Have you been Bill?’ asked Tom

And he answered with some aplomb

‘Been where?’ He wondered

‘You know?’ Said Tom

‘Been to the place, oh, come on.’

And Bill he scratched his head ‘til bare

What’s he on about? Oh what despair

Then it dawned like a torch from the night

‘Oh come on, enough of that, just tell me all right?’

Tom looked perplexed

I’ve done no wrong,

He thought in his mind

And thought on it long

‘No, you see, Bill, listen in

I’m talking to you now, like a next of kin

Have you been there?’

‘Are you being rude?’

‘No! What on earth?’ Head down, feeling subdued.

‘Have you known a place rich in all

A place where the people all stand tall

Where no one knows what it is to be bad’

‘But, Tom, we still, you know, get to play the lad?’

‘Bill, Bill, Bill’

‘What’s that Tom?’

‘The place I mention you’ll see before long’

‘Oh come on you tease, what is this land

Where all is so plentiful, tell me now is my demand.’

‘Patience Bill, all will be revealed

Make sure you’re ready

Check your excess

What’ll happen then is anybody’s guess.’

As we amputate Christ ... (2.1.07)

2009-05-04T10:40:00.003+01:00

As we amputate Christ …

The lights are on

But you’re not home

We may as well

Be elsewhere, alone,

As in this shell

To the ear, and tell,

White noise

With poise

But no action, no swell.

His hands and feet

They say we are

Reaching out

Stretching far

In the name of hope

Peace and love,

In the triune unity

Of one above.

But laid out bare

On the surgeons table

No elements here

A suburban fable

Christ is cold

Religious anesthetic

Framed in scrubs

Hypocrisy, pathetic.

As men and women

[Default]

boys and girls

Reach down the throats

Of swine

Find pearls

Adorn the neck

Of Christ almighty

Smile

Eyes shut

Taking lightly,

All that screams

From history’s witness

All that has power

Avoids the pointless.

And marked on wrists

Ankles too

Black dotted lines

Cut here

Join the queue,

Of those intent

To amputate

The risen Lord

To seal his fate.

His hands and feet

Separated, gone

Sealed to the trite

Of another worship song

written to calm

The spoilt heart

Written rhetorical,

Start, end, start,

As around we go

Round about,

No exit seen

No journeyed clout

And missed are the chances

In which Apostles shone

Gone are the pathways which to the

Spiritual belong,

Yet cosy and

Somehow appeased

Onward seek

The seeker-sensitive,

Bleed,

For Christ in vain,

(Or so it seems for now)

Bore the pain

(although I don’t know how)

For surely if he knew the means

Sought by those

He came to glean

There may have been a turning

True,

Beyond the prozac shuffling blues,

And he may have instead

Envisioned a place

Where the wealthy gave up

To the poor, the defaced

Those without dignity,

Those imprisoned,

Lost in scarcity,

A land in which his body could abound

A Kingdom in which all scattered

Were found,

If only he’d had the eyes to see

A vision like this

What Utopia there would be

Upon our doorsteps

Under our noses

Ready and waiting

Challenge posing

Our God not enough?

Our faith misled?

Surely of his hope,

This was his dread,

I ask you friends

Ask you to drink what was bled,

Are we blindfold,

Are we dead?

And the sunshine (2.7.07)

2009-05-04T09:23:00.003+01:00

And the sunshine

And the sunshine, falls on the landing

And the sunshine, its radiance so demanding

Warms, swarms, calls me to my knees,

Gathers my heart and pain

Lays me down, and laid

out bare to know

The sunshine

Blankets

Covers me and I can’t see

Comforts all that I can’t be

Lifts yet I am lying

to myself

Sunshine

Won’t you be mine

I am yours and knowing

I am here and going

no where

I am lost and all I see is

Sunshine

Be mine

I will be yours

I will be

I will be your

Sunshine

I will be your

Sunshine

Be mine now.

For, foul or lovely, 'twas a fool that loved you.' (c. 2000)

2009-05-04T09:19:00.004+01:00

‘For, foul or lovely, ‘twas a fool that loved you.’¹

I feel for her

In her position

Feeling as she does

And the difference

In how I try to cope

Mustn’t hold for her much hope.

I see her stance

On everything and

I think this hurts a lot more,

For who can leave

The place they want to stay,

A fool I feel

I remain today.

¹ Last line from ‘He Wonders Whether to Praise or Blame Her’ by Rupert Brooke, 1915.

The lioness left the pride (8.10.08)

2009-05-04T09:05:00.002+01:00

The lioness left the pride

The lioness left the pride

Though pride stalked long into the grass

Skulking around the undergrowth

Living delusional, living to last, lambaste.

Her visits became occasional

Though socials often attacked

Cruelty veiled in spirituality

History impaled, wounded, grief racked.

Cubs became independent

Though the loss of experience became a curse

Generations affected, redundant,

So by herself she existed,

Self-sufficient, self-medicating nurse.

And then the saddest chapter

Came at the end

Through her fear for all

As alone she left the desert

Too distant for any to hear her call,

As alone she left the desert,

Hidden, behind the invisible, hypocritical wall.

Sleeping beauty (15.5.08)

2009-05-04T09:00:00.003+01:00

Sleeping Beauty

I never believed in fairytale Kingdoms …

Until it was that I met God,

And I then I went to church,

And saw that everyone had forgot.

Sleeping Beauty occupied the alter

And I approached with wary steps

Where is the vibrant

celebration?

I felt somewhat inept.

Confused and without guidance

I continued on, I crept,

toward the dormant beauty,

I was drawn,

I was under her command –

A radiance abounded

from that hanging,

grasping hand.

I looked around with intent,

Sought advice from those around,

But nothing was reverberated,

There was a distinct

absence of

sound.

I turned my head back to the Beauty,

in slumber,

Was she aware?

That the Kingdom was in free fall,

I moved closer,

expectant,

scared.

Would this all fall down around me?

Was this a veil of deceit?

Once chanced I knew in my

heart beat,

That there would no restorative

repeat,

I sensed that this was eternal,

that once woken,

no turning back,

Was this testimony to my courage,

Or evidence of all I lack?

Steady, I made moves forward,

Transfixed and focused,

Complete,

Took her hand

and shed my glance

To her top from her exposed feet.

I looked at the face,

redundant,

I hoped for life to breathe,

At that moment her eyes were opened,

I had no other need.

The Kingdom became thriving

Life blossomed,

bloomed around.

Suddenly there was nothing

Of beauty that couldn’t be found,

I knelt, I wept, I praised God,

I knew, I saw, I felt,

The Kingdom was now present,

and the future Heaven sent.

We went.

For now (28.1.08)

2009-05-04T08:56:00.002+01:00

For now

Every turn’s a bad turn

and every right’s a wrong,

Every moment transitory,

I belong,

I don’t belong.

Knowing the compass

intimate,

Seeing horizon’s clear,

Turning, stern, to otherness,

anticipation, fear.

Consumed in self-indulgence,

parting with ties that bind,

Seeking thrills, inspiration,

living to discover, to find

something beyond the routine,

beyond the in and out

a spark of something precious

to be mined, refined, to mount.

For now this is perplexing

For now this so real

For now this is reality (fantasy)

For now, this is,

for now.

Technology is a lie (4.3.09)

2009-05-03T21:19:00.001+01:00

Technology is a lie

Technology is a lie

(A war cry)

Selling futures, selling hope

Efficient, guaranteed methods

With which modernity copes.

Technology promises

A dowry unending

Leaves the poor at the altar

With everything pending

It sets up a call center

In the shadow of the shanty

Lifelines to the beneficiaries

On hold

In the pantry.

Technology lights

Burns and exhales

And prompts the new wave

Tornados and gales

That blow through the roofs tops

Of the nations that champion

Its virtues and wonder

An uneconomic sanction.

Technology fuels

The desires of hearts

Burning (indigestion?)

It instigates, starts

The process of betterment

For those who subscribe

We do not deliver

To those who derive

Their existence from survival

Who aspire to the advances

Of finding a meal

Whilst the silhouette dances

He dances, a shadow,

ipod flails wide

He is everything aspired to

Invisible, a lie.

Technology is the future

Bound up in a present

Never fully unwrapped

Just constantly sent

From the designer

To consumer

From pillar

To post

Where we find ourselves

Honestly

Is crashed

is lost

technology.

Rhetoric wrecked (9.3.09)

2009-05-03T21:16:00.002+01:00

Rhetoric wrecked

“God”, “God”

“Sin”, “Saved”

“Do” (or) “Die”

Don’t,

ask

“Why?”

“Stop, you! Stop!

and listen,

Cease, you,

repent

and

Christen.”

“Be judged

and judge,

Believe and receive

Recall, with force,

What

relief!”

“Why, you sir,

Why don’t you stop?

I’m talking to you,

Don’t you know what you’ve got?

A disease deep inside

Contracted at birth,

Take responsibility right now,

There’s no time for mirth.”

“Stop, your ignorance is seen

By the one who created everything

The one who’s always been.

I know, once he had so much to do,

Creation, redemption etc,

But now you matter over anything,

He’s watching now,

I bet ya!”

“Oh, oh,

Still you walk away,

Still you turn your cold, hard heart

Still you choose to delay,

The salvation you didn’t know you needed

But thirty seconds ago,

What on earth are you doing?

How can you stoop so low?”

“I will hate to say “I told you so”

Come the end of time

But that’s what I’ll have to do

The duty is given, is mine.”

“Go on, go on,

I scream in your ear in vain,

My words are mute, are lame,

Though I wonder not

As to why they limp,

No, I soldier on, victorious

assured

and

without

blame.”

Briefcase (27.12.08)

2009-05-03T20:47:00.006+01:00

Briefcase

I walked this morning with my briefcase

And all I heard were voices

Reverberating like song

As the day began to emerge.

I walked this morning with my briefcase

For I was going to work

Then the peace was ended

Political action

Evil

Knee-jerk.

The rockets descended

Flash-like

For no human can see the force

Behind such mass destruction

Behind cloaked, ignorant laws.

They pounded the ground around me

I stood, briefcase in hand,

Craters threw out corpses

Children bled

Once the ground again

They found.

Alarms rang out in chaos

The echo of every bomb

For they know not the intruder

The invisible coward

Detached

Numb.

Hoards began to usher

The wounded

The dead

To other places

But their plight once arriving

Piles of people

Piles of faces.

The blood ran beneath my feet

My grip consuming my briefcase

Concrete showered the streets

Fire screened the waste.

But above the military crescendos

Above fire and smoke and blood

Were the screams, the ailing voices

The screams, the screams a flood.

Into the vacuum they bellowed

Into the vacuum, consumed

For who hears the scream of the innocent?

Not even those who planned, who loomed

Above the night, the dawn

Above the baby and nurse

Above the Chief of Police

Above the stranded pawn

For this is not a time for consideration

Of peace, of justice nor love

This is the war of man

And all that he does covet.

My briefcase was of course empty

I walk each day only to pretend

That my life has any function

In this walled hovel, this existential dead-end.

Clinging to it now, as I stand unable to move

I cannot even believe in the children

As my means to what could improve,

Taken in the name of justice

Yet they took justice to the grave

For where the just are slain in innocence

They take the glory with which to save,

deprave.

the bed inept (3.5.09)

2009-05-03T20:39:00.006+01:00

the bed inept

What is this world

Of fame and wealth

Exposure, privacy

Ultimate health

Innocent eyes

And worn out glances

The masses wonder

The mass it dances

Blown away

Dandelion seeds

Drifting on

Celebrity breeze

Landing, planting

Patiently grown

To spawn more seedlings

To become the unknown

That tick and tock

That go round-a-bout

Each day, each night

Each moment

A sight

Which sees the potential

Fade away

Beneath spotlights enamoured

With jesters that play

To those that listen

Those that thrive

Those that wish

Those that dive

Into the lagoon

In search of depth

Never to discover

The bed inept

For fidelity left

When you committed

To notions of more

When greed outwitted

The core within you

The love, joy and peace

You lost perspective

Now you are weak

(eyes leak).

won moment (3.5.09)

2009-05-03T20:38:00.007+01:00

won moment

I hate the fact that you’ve won me

Persuaded me to your cause

I subscribe to all you market

I move in order to applaud.

I hate the fact that I uphold

The existence you have, they crave

Caught up in celebrity’s essence

The master and the slave.

I hate the response I give you

Just because you offer a glance

My existence overshadowed

By the significance

The song and dance.

I hate the way a relationship

Is built, is nothing but fantasy

The spotlight on your every move

Silhouettes shift so awkwardly.

I hate the credence we give to those

Who are the idol, who are disposed

Whose private lives are public domain

Whose pleasure is secret pain.

I hate the truth that lies beneath

Hidden, disguised, all is neat

I hate it because it deserves to shine

In a balance where yours is mine

(And mine is yours,

of course).

enough is enough (3.5.09)

2009-05-03T20:35:00.006+01:00

enough is enough

I had it all
I wanted more
I sought perfection
Found perfection's flaw
I needed security
Needed risk
Pursued the established
But impulse whisked
Me off to scenes too good to be true
Left me trailing without a clue
I clawed and wrestled,
Pleaded for peace
Of mind, of cake
To eat it and stop
To enjoy and cease
But appetite builds
Responds to greed
Builds the illusion
That we all need
The best, the perfect
The right and true
The perfect fit
Just for you
But tailored is a luxury dead
A distraction only
From an ugly head
That fails to balance
Nor reconcile
The pace of satisfied
The speed and style
Of lives that prosper
Lives that fail
Enough is enough
I wish
I bail
Out.

shelf (3.5.09)

2009-05-03T20:33:00.005+01:00

shelf

I went to buy fresh strawberries
But something different on the shelf
Something small, compact, exquisite
Hunted me down with stealth
Consumed by the momentary
I chanced every bite
Over, split second, over
For sore eyes I'm now a sight.
Peniless and lost
A pauper craving more
Reluctant addict on a path
The wagon stole away and tore
A gaping in my purpose
A constant to and fro
I just wanted strawberries
A natural, loving glow.
Now I need something else
Additive rich and bound to harm
Sold out, naked, exposed,
Still not enough,
Not even close
(at most).

jeopardy (3.5.09)

2009-05-03T20:28:00.005+01:00

jeopardy

What T is an impossible soul
Divided by itself
What S is a sea in ruin
Spillage suffocates health
What Y is deaf to cries
That come poorly disguised
What P is a tragic horizon
Never seen, out of reach
What F is a promise, broken
Every heart it does beseach
What J is a daily reality
In hand, always out of reach.