Saturday, October 12, 2013

Better

(after Leonard Cohen)

Better than the chaotic hunger
Of Brighton gulls
The ordered beachcombing pigeons
Of Villefranche-sur-mer

Better than noon sunshine
The early-morning light
And the buildings’ palette of whites,
Ochres, yellows and orange

Better than the bass tones
and wind-snatched muzak
the stereo-panned swish and swash
of the Mediterranean

Better than neatness
The secret order
Of organic growth

Better than a reality check

A fantasy boost

Friday, October 11, 2013

The Last Lines of Leonard Cohen

And this is the book
You get married
A single step
And there’s no one left in Hell

Jikan Eliezer
You’d sing too

You are listening to Radio Resistance
They’ve wanted all these years
And raising kids

Better and better
Is a comb
My turn to resurrect

I prefer my stuff to theirs
In other little ways
The patient forgets to suffer

“Do not kill”
Why should I want to smile forever
Over my enormous hard-on

Old Jikan smoking

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Apologies

Apologies from Sarah. It’s her throat.
Not just the karaoke and the booze.
It is the ‘flu’. And Mindy’s sent a note
Her mother’s had some tests. Might be bad news. 
I’m on my hols in Lanzarote. Well
Yes, yes, the conference... But half-price flights?
The secretary, Cath, who makes the coffee,
Is at the school. Her Zeb’s been in another fight. 
You’ll have to write the minutes. Tom (tall guy – HR)
Has e-mailed his report. He’s on a course
Eighteen holes (his little joke). Bill’s crashed his car.
And Natalie has fallen off her horse. 
Clare has run off with the caretaker, and so

There’s only you. Please, turn the lights out when you go.

Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Moth

Four in the morning
I am naked
Watching the jet-black moth
On the white bathroom tiles
Unfold its wings
And take off

Seven forty five
In bed, a cup of coffee by my side
I am writing this poem
My wife appears, naked
Her hands cupped
I open the window


We release it to the wild