Ribs

    Spare change?   Eyes fixated on an imaginary point ahead, the host moved on.   Ignored him.   Thought about her guests.   How to prepare for their visit.     Barbaric.   He thought.   She couldn’t even look him in the eye.   Couldn’t see the juice, the tears, the potentialContinue reading “Ribs”

A Walk in the Grounds of Cornwallis Arms

Cracked white paint on a traffic pylon, parading as Queen Elizabeth’s cement filled pock marked face.   Black paint speckled with green mould and a leafless twig coiled around it, like a dead arm clinging to an iron bed-post.   A black shiny duck’s head with freckles of bottle green, like a snooker ball wearingContinue reading “A Walk in the Grounds of Cornwallis Arms”

Lament of the Cheerio

      Watch me drop on the floor. Go on, carry on just sitting there – looking at me.   I suppose you’ll tread on me   later and not even notice   my saturated remains being subjected to further torture when squished   into the carpet by your husband’s heel.     I’mContinue reading “Lament of the Cheerio”

Fear

        A large modern house with dormer windows protruding from an expansive roof, peering over tall brick walls designed to put off the nosy.   A coughing, spluttering heavy goods vehicle hurtling towards me.   A ‘For Sale’ sign attached to the front garden post of the ‘mansion’.   A tightly wrinkledContinue reading “Fear”

Imagining Myself to be a Poet

      Imagining myself to be a poet   Baby cradled in one arm   I wait for a flash of inspiration     Words seem to peel off my other arm   In strips, skin curling upwards,   Turning into crisps     My toddler picks one up and   eats it –Continue reading “Imagining Myself to be a Poet”

Inside Out

      Taut skin Belly button sinking.   Who are you?   I feel that you –   cannot really be there   inside me.   I don’t want to be turned inside out.   Have you got anything to do with me?   Really?   Will I cease to be real   whenContinue reading “Inside Out”

Dying Apart Together

  I saw what could be,                   Your gravestone with my   name on it, two bodies together   in death, as if we were still   living.   A strange thing to hope for,   I kept my thoughts to myself   not sure that you would   understand.     I said goodbyeContinue reading “Dying Apart Together”

Do I still know you?

Do I still know you?   The walls themselves groan with your echoing moans.   Voices like out of tune violas merge into the wailing phones.   As they ring, desperate to be heard above your din,   Even the TV newsreader gets louder, struggling for recognition.   It would be rude to cover myContinue reading “Do I still know you?”

Tutorial Notes

You will know when.   How?   You won’t have any need to ask yourself.   Why?   You will just know.   Just know?   Yes, you’ll know. You won’t need to say anything. Or give anything of yourself away. It will   just be there. You will know when.   Okay, I’ll keepContinue reading “Tutorial Notes”

Death at Christmas

The tree is up and the lights are on The glow is bright and warm   But I feel cold     The tree is real, not a plastic job   The colour is green, but parts are yellow   and the ferns are falling     The glow may be bright   But theContinue reading “Death at Christmas”