Soul Rape

A poem from 1994

Shiny happy people

Inflicting your happiness

upon the world

Oblivious

to those outside your petty private joy

Closing your eyes

to the misery

of the miserable,

you rape their souls

To All In Tents and Tortoises

A poem from 1985

when cold winds blow

and winter snow

meanders to the ground

in wispy

                fragrant fields

we pitched our tents

and made haste to camp under

the shelter of a great oak tree

this was not the kind of weather

suitable for our sport

but how can one refuse

a dare

when coming from such an obsolete fellow

as Arrogance?

In winters cold hell

the tortoise dwells

in

four walls

of a cardboard box

with straw for furniture

his tent on his back

propels the icy attack

of the snow that falls through

the air-holes in the lid

Soap

A poem from 2017

Are you serious?

Is this normal behaviour?

Is this every street but mine?

Skullduggery at every turn?

Carousels of lust?

A misery-go-round of broken lives?

My life is so sheltered

You have us eating out of the palm of your hand

You make us hate the villain

You show us their sensitive side

And suddenly we must love them

You have us screaming “NO!” at the TV

We shout out “don’t do it!”

As if we had control

You build up hopes for what does not exist

All the time it is your whim that rules

You are messing with our minds

You are primetime gods

You lecture us

You ostracise us

Guardians of Cain and Abel

You keep us coming back for more

Dangling us over the cliff edge

But you are so lazy

You rerun the same stories with different characters

You are not as omniscient as you like to think

I am wise to your games

I refuse to let you control my emotions

I refuse to let you decide my morals

I have better ways of wasting my time

I am not a viewing figure, I am a free man

And I have broken free from you

Selfie Stick

A poem from 2017

I'm the centre of the universe

Life with me in the middle

Kissing thin air

Love me

Love this image

I'm in control of what I want you to see

Until God photobombs me

Hole

A poem from 2017

Today I heard

There's a God-shaped hole

In each of us

And it made me wonder

What shape is God?

...oh!...

A poem from 1985

you may say pull yourself together

there are plenty more fish in the sea

well I know that that’s not true

you may say cheer up

it’s not the end of the world

perhaps not for you but you don’t have the same feelings as me

I didn’t ask you to open your mouth

to tell me these twisted facts

how dare you condescend me

I didn’t ask you to open your mouth

to spout such stupid words

how could you try to bend my mind

Something Special

A poem from 2017

She thought last night was something special

The way he made her feel

More than a one night stand

But with the light of morning his countenance darkened

He shuffled her down the stairs

And made her leave by the back door

No gate, so he watched as she climbed over the wall in dress and high heels

Upset and stumbling away

He stood, arms crossed, guarding the house

A look of contempt on his face

Glad to see the back of her

Elf

A poem from 2017

Her small figure almost dances as she walks along

Hips swaying to a seductive beat

In her heart the desire to abduct your soul

With a giggle and a smile

Magically her footprints give way to red daisies

The bloodied, crushed flowers of your youth

Her pretty face shimmers a note of wickedness

And in her wake the smell of expensive perfume

She looks you straight in the eye and nausea rises in your throat

Fear roots you to the spot

And this creature whispers in your ear

“I am the fragrance of Christ”