Night Rainbow

Look at the colour
Of the colour
Of the colour

You said, in middle of the night

And woke up
And stumbled to the bathroom

Woken
By a rainbow

Uncle John and Auntie Clare

Uncle John
Is big and red and very, very loud
He argues with Mum a lot
About who should be running the country
He sells cars
He drove us at 100mph once

Auntie Clare
Is nervous
She sips tea like a hamster
And she says,
That’s enough, John!
And then Uncle John
Is very, very
Quiet

Giving

Ed gave me his birthday badge
I gave Ed my moon rock
Ed gave me his juicy peach
I gave Ed my sock

Ed gave me his hamsters
Jimmy, Digs and Jack
Mum found them in my bedroom
And I had to give them back

Mum made Ed give my sock back
So I returned his peach
And Ed returned my moon rock
(I’d found it on the beach)

I returned Ed’s birthday badge
And Mum said, Good. That’s that.
She went downstairs to the kitchen
And I gave Ed our cat

Credit Crunch

Once
She melted his heart
Now
She freezes his assets

Not Billy Collins

It is a tea pot
Not a saucepan on the gas ring
Bubbling and filling the kitchen
With a comforting steam

It is not the door
Waiting for the cook's entrance
And through which
Can be faintly heard
Chris Barber’s Cat Call

Nor is it the window
Where the sun and the moon
May be observed
Taking it in turns
To archly cross the sky

Nor is it the telescope
That stands in the hall
Its barrel dusty
And marked with the prints
Of children’s fingers
Like putty moons

Nor is it the garden path
Awaiting the careful tread
Of the poet Billy Collins

No, it is not Billy Collins
It is a tea pot

Snake Propulsion

My mind
Is catapulted
From the ancient pool
To the waiting waterfall
By the stripy elasticated belt
With the snake buckle

Present

Remember
When Mickey, our mouse,
Brought us a little
Present
And left it on the doorstep?

A dead cat