What strange creatures we are
attracted to such noises
The constant hum and buzz of them
would drive other species mad
And yet we are drawn in by it
the chaos of this competition
Who can shout the loudest
in a room full of shouting people
Who can scream the loudest
and does anybody hear?
It’s very strange to feel your armour
eroded by the storms of late
polished steel and impenetrable
built up over many seasons
now tarnished and diminished
worn down in spots and rusted
by the frequent acid rains
Loose the dogs of war
if you must
but be sure
they will turn on heel
and you will suffer the bite
faster than any pigeons
I ever set free
come home to roost
By the content of my character! he howled
Judge me by this I beg of you, brothers
Invoking that late pastor from Georgia
A counterfeit laced with expletive
Appropriation of premise without grace
Scrutinise him then by his own measure
A sheep wandering with a rabid flock
Whipped in to a frenzy by fallacy
Choosing only the slogans in favour
Ignorant of truth, bombastic oblivion!
And he is found wanting
And they are found blind
I hate the smell of hospitals
lemon bleach and sterile funk
base notes of stale vomit and
top notes of lingering death
Fresh-mopped vinyl flooring
in hues of green and pink
gives way to glass and tiles
the chill of stainless steel
People keep their heads down
try not to make eye contact
unsure what you are here for
just in case it’s sadness
I hate the smell of hospitals
Alone and steadfast with the
ocean lapping at the shore
dark rocky outcrops and
lush green lower lands
nourished by plentiful rains
silent and overlooked and
very much overgrown
sometimes my friend
you make me feel
like an island
Follow your head he said
the wise man with his pipe
and his book and degrees
and his red leather chair
just follow your head boy
my head it fails me sir
it does not speak to me
in words I understand
my head it fails me
Then follow your heart
said the man in his chair
with the smoke in the room
and the dust on the books
just follow your heart boy
my heart fails me sir
it does not speak to me
for it is timid and quiet
my heart it fails me
Then follow your dreams
said the man with degrees
gently stroking his beard
with a mild agitation
just follow your dreams boy
my dreams fail me sir
for it’s long since I dreamed
my pillow is soft yet
my dreams they fail me
When the clouds become too heavy
they give way and rain falls on to the earth
filling all the cracks and running to the sea
wetting the soils and bringing new life
it has been this way since time immeasurable
You my little butterfly are just passing through
the earth does not blink in that time
despite your beautiful wings and display
you are only a small stitch on a great tapestry
colourful, yet brief
I know we are all doomed and
that the men in ivory towers
give us no more than a thousand
years of human life on earth
until we drown ourselves in filth
I concede we’re self important
it’s every man for his own self
and we must trample all the others
before they dare to get ahead
rats on a great spinning wheel
I know it’s probably true that
it’s all the fault of those preceding
the way the turned a blinded eye to
the trouble piling up down here
that’s no excuse to repeat their mistakes
You who came before us
who rest upon your laurels
in gilded warm nests
no cares for your weary brow
What have you then left us?
war and desperation
poverty, greed and famine
great cathedral of the holy self
We who came thereafter
crawl in the dirt of our fathers
no shelter or assurance
you look down on us and sigh
We who labour for your harvest
toil beneath your avarice
and each time we near the altar
you close the temple door
Kick the ladder out from under you
LVX CREARE 