Feral

A 2020 poem

Territorial beatings, stake your claim

A knife, a gun, or an old fashioned knee in the groin

And punch in the stomach

A kick in the head and left to stew

Blood drips into the gutter while you sleep

You’re going to regret this in the morning

Nocturnal creatures licking your wounds

Stinky vomit a pillow

Were you conned into a life of crime

Or are you just bad to the bone

Nature? Nurture? A bit of both?

Or something else beginning with N?

Someone standing over you and laughing

A street full of derision, tension

The night time economy a flashing mystery

Neon gods whispering, haven’t you got a home to go to?

Image by Thomas Rüdesheim from Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/photos/self-defense-weapon-pistol-risk-4327171/

Planet of the Apes

A 2020 poem

Hey, hey, we’re the Monkeys

Planet Primates

Kings of the Jungle

White Chimpanzees

Black Gorillas

Red Orangutans

Evolution’s a bitch

Unhappy animal

Soulless man

Moral anaesthesia

Denial crisis

Existential excuse

Empty society

Governmental sinners

Science absolution

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/photos/composing-monkey-woman-laugh-sepia-2925179/

Flying Fish

A 2020 poem

Like an exocet missile he tears open the sky

Hovering low, undetected and undetectable

Your defences are down

It’s been a long time coming

Slowly chipping away at love

Your lifeboat had better be working

Here a complaint

There a grumble

Here a slammed door

There a shout 

Here a night out with the boys

There a neglected kiss

Cold fish

Smelly fish

Flirty fish

Flying fish

Don’t be angry

Be love

This missile

Dismissal

Blind the radar

Save yourselves

Eric Ward

https://unsplash.com/photos/7KQe_8Meex8

Force Restart

A 2020 poem

Every sinful pleasure that gnaws away at bones

Every human instinct, every flaw unknown

Every tasty morsel of every fruit delight

Every sniff of darkness, every needle night

Unaware of enemies that stalk 

Unaware of serpents that talk

Unaware of angels dressed in red

Unaware of birds residing in the head

He wakes up in the morning

This is another hungover day

He forces himself to his feet

Thinking only of 16 hours till he can sleep again

Awake, fool

Dead dreams

Feel the cross

Force restart

Image by Amit Karkare from Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/photos/restart-cushions-funny-ctrl-alt-del-2787877/

Be All, End All

A 2020 poem

Be all

Be the centre

Be what you want

Be your own god

I typed it into a search engine

And out came this golden calf

It really wasn’t my fault, Moses

Google made me do it

Captain of my ship

Master of my destiny

Purveyor of foolishness

Philosopher of vapidity

You cannot make the sun shine

You cannot tell the waves to crash

You cannot call down fire on the earth

You cannot end all

Image by StanWilliamsPhoto from Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/photos/man-smoking-smoke-cigarette-face-4132758/

Pesto

A 2020 Poem

They laid his bruised and bloodied body in the ground

They grabbed the largest pestle they could find and got to work

“Get out of this one!”

“Save yourself!”

“Prophesy! Who is crushing you?”

He said nothing

Not because he couldn’t speak

But because of his dignity and desire to forgive

A sweet smelling offering as heaven and earth watched on astounded

A culinary medicine to save the human soul

Image by Republica from Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/photos/mortar-pestle-wooden-old-tool-89048/

The Lazy Snake

A 2020 Poem

Temptation is too easy

Even Satan’s getting bored

Wind ‘em up with any cause

And watch them babies go!

Eve is fat and lonely

Adam’s high on dope

Money still keeps grabbing

Words are light to throw

Satan goes on holiday

He knows his time is short

But why waste it on humanity

Why wear himself out at all

The bent within works seamlessly

The evil monkey stalks

The wicked hearts do Satan’s work

While he just sits and yawns

Image by Mylene2401 from Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/photos/snake-brown-portrait-4885789/

Message In A Bottle

A 2020 poem

A cry for love!

A bottle on the beach!

Euphoric false memory

My one true love searching for me

A cry of pain!

A bottle with no message

Exhausted hope shattered
Afterbirth of a wino

Image by PDPics from Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/photos/bottle-sand-beach-shore-sandy-166466/