mostly nonsense

Annoying poem #1

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:56:46 GMT

Hurry,
I'm worried.

Psalm XCVIII

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:02:19 GMT

    We need a brand-new song to sing
    about the quite important thing
        that with our God we're always sure
        that victory means peace, not war.

    And anyway (ask anyone)
    our loving God's already won,
        revealing to the world at large
        the happy news that Love's in charge.

    That's cool - so cool that we should sing
    a song for this fantastic king.
        Make hooting noises, everyone -
       let's all join in the noisy fun!

    To show that we love God today
    we'll play whatever we can play -
        with flutes and drums we'll strike a chord
        that celebrates the living Lord.

    And if we make a noisy sound
    that lifts the sea and shakes the ground,
       then streams and lakes will clap along
        and mountains sing a mountain song.

    This loudness is a giant cheer
    for God, who'll be arriving here
        to make this world completely fair,
        and people equal everywhere.

love poem

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:45:14 GMT

I start to write, unsure of what will come
to form these lines, like someone with a drum-
stick experimenting
or some fool scientist inventing
by numbers. Noise
reverberates incessantly; boys
with sushi sit together
or apart. The sudden weather
stays outside
while I - quite vulnerable - sense my pride
collapsing like warm water from a bucket.
Fuck it -
I'll speak before my voice
gets lost, and say: had I the choice
between a brand new start, more things to do
and life together, I'd choose you.

Two similes

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:17:43 GMT

words are like worms
keys are like farms

Scene at dusk

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:15:58 GMT

A man in a canoe -
a woman in a shoe!

Circle

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:28:10 GMT

      A circle is a silly shape -
      I saw one at the sauna
      the size of a sultana grape
      self-harming in the corner.

Neck lady

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:27:03 GMT

    I once saw a lady with cheese on her neck
    and apples and honey and bees on her neck
    and beavers and monkeys and trees on her neck
    and elbows and shouders and knees on her neck.

For Julien: an anniversary poem

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 06:19:46 GMT

    I love you when it's humid,
    I love you when it's dry.
I love you when you say the weather makes you want to die.
    I love you with your clothes on,
    I love you in the nude.
I love you when you step outside and come back home with food.

Ideas

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:01:52 GMT

        spin a winner
        hide a spider
        shake a baker
        mail a sailor

If grass were blue

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:59:41 GMT

    If grass were blue I'd marry you,
      if eggs were green I'd hurry.
    If lies were true I'd smell your shoe
      and if it rained, I'd worry.

I want a bird

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:57:41 GMT

I want a bird that knows my name,
    I want a bird that flies.
I want a bird that goes to sleep,
    I want a bird that cries.
I want a bird that rings a bell
    while closing both its eyes;
I want a bird that taps my shoulder
    when the laundry dries.

5: Simon of Cyrene carries the cross

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:21:13 GMT

    Impatient soldiers seek out volunteers
        to take up the cross out of pity,
    until a predictable target appears -
        a stranger from some other city.

    Simon steps over and lifts up the wood,
        impelled by a clear resolution
    to do this longsuffering person some good
        by aiding his swift execution.

Soya pies that bark and fight

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:27:36 GMT

    An old Buddhist master liked dog for a treat
    although Buddhist ethics forbade eating meat.
    One morning - indulging this dangerous vice -
    his servant popped in: "what's that food? Is it nice?"
    "Soy pies!" the embarrassed superior lied
    and ran to his favourite prayer-room, to hide.

    A few hours later the monk heard a noise
    (a thing that he liked even less than bad boys);
    he summoned his slave with a self-righteous shout -
    "what's all this unbearable racket about?"
    His servant replied with a gleam in his eyes:
    "it's only a fight between rival soy pies."

At the Moca Café

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:22:21 GMT

    Four walls of brick, the air outside unclear
    and, in the front room, white men drinking beer.
    Hanoi becomes a pleasureground at last;
    the ceiling fan moves moderately fast.
    The soundtrack: bebop - some inspired session
    direct from the American Depression.
    The floor feels vast, its tiling cracked but clean;
    I tap my foot, and open Graham Greene.

Karaoke

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:22:59 GMT

    A tense encounter at the karaoke:
    Akiko - calling up some '90s rap -
    discovered that her girlfriend, feeling folky,
    had organised her own acoustic crap.
    How horrible - the girl deserved a slap!
        (Peace only came with something in-between:
        a read-through of The Greatest Hits of Queen.)

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:53:37 GMT

            shampoo shampoo
            kung fu kung fu
          rice stew rice stew
          bamboo bamboo

This is a poem of planting bamboo.
      bamboo bamboo
        shampoo shampoo
Listen to me and you'll know what to do.
        kung fu kung fu
        rice stew rice stew

First, wash your hair with some fancy shampoo.
        shampoo shampoo
        kung fu kung fu
Massage it it in so you're clean through and through.
        rice stew rice stew
        bamboo bamboo

Then, dress yourself in your clothes for kung fu.
        kung fu kung fu
        rice stew rice stew
Clench up your fists and you'll know what to do.
        bamboo bamboo
        shampoo shampoo

Next, cook a breakfast of steamy rice stew.
        rice stew rice stew
        bamboo bamboo
Drink it down slowly; it's best not to chew.
        shampoo shampoo
        kung fu kung fu

Then you'll be ready to plant your bamboo.
        bamboo bamboo
        shampoo shampoo
I hope for your sake that the sky will be blue.
        kung fu kung fu
        rice stew rice stew

                shampoo shampoo
                kung fu kung fu
                rice stew rice stew
                bamboo bamboo

An accident

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:49:15 GMT

    A woman alone in Beijing
    began rather softly to sing,
            but then she got prouder
            and shriller and louder -
    'til both of her eardrums went ping!

Shanghai tears

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:47:00 GMT

    A woman at sea in Shanghai
    quite suddenly started to cry.
            (It was, I believe,
            some warm summer's eve
    at roughly the start of July.)

New York style

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:45:06 GMT

    I once met a man from Manhattan
    who loved to transform his old satin
            with diamonds and dots
            umbrellas and spots,
    and one rather naughtier pattern.

Siberia

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 05:10:46 GMT

      Some people have a liking for Siberia
    (its ruggedness, its panoramic grass)
     but, when I saw it, something like hysteria
      embittered me - and this was in First Class -
     realising, as each morning came to pass,
      I'd woken to a vehicle's sudden lurches
     and yet another window full of birches.

On the Trans-Siberian Express (#2)

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:41:02 GMT

        Wind, rampaging as it pleases,
        crafts a landscape as we pass,
        while my winking eyelid freezes
        curling patterns in the grass.

On the Trans-Siberian Express (#1)

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:38:32 GMT

    Siberia, under my eye,
    seems endlessly arid and dry
            with only one locus
            to narrow the focus:
    the line where the grass meets the sky.

Jeremy

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:00:16 GMT

    Said Jeremy: "what I like best
    are girls with a simplified chest,
            and those that I feel
            are simply ideal
    consist of a singular breast."

Dillema

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:58:12 GMT

    A rather devout Buddhist llama
    was having a serious drama
            for - counting up sheep -
            he'd fallen asleep
    and miscalculated his Karma!

Miranda

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:36:30 GMT

    One morning, exploring a thicket,
    Miranda discovered a cricket
            and - finding it charming
            instead of alarming -
    she quickly bent over to lick it.