I have always liked, Defiant Africans, Nelson, Patrice, Kenyatta, Martin Luther King, Groovy black men, Niggers with attitude, But they intimidate me, Black men. Freedom fighters, Bar room brawlers, And I rise from sleep, Sheened in sweat, Running away, Scribbling my number, On scraps of paper, On foreheads and trousers, On outstretched palms, And I’m […]

I squashed a cockroach the other day. A big, Fat, Cockroach. It was trying to get away and I squashed it. Not that I had anything against that, Particular cockroach but, I was bare-foot. I had tea, And biscuits, And was bare-foot when he made his dash across the corridor. It took some time to […]

A glance at the rear-view mirror, And you’re in the hands of a driver who’s chewing grass and, Kneading her weave. You are left of a drunk who’s just exclaimed, “…we’re moving too fast!” Survival can be glamorous. You imagine you see, That you can dodge bullets, And retain bouncy hair, That keratin replenishers really […]

I. We used to receive, in West Germany, handwritten letters from friends in Soviet Russia. Mail was read by censors so we established a code; If written in blue ink, True, If red, False. Letters would arrive, All written in blue; Everything wonderful, stores full of food, Apartments large, weather is good. We just cannot […]

I wish we had played on all night, African cowboys with not much, Else to do, I wish we had challenged the fish in the sea and, Called out to the Bison, My father and his band, And his -strike while the iron is hot- Jive, Johnstone, his brother, On the drums, Kicking up a […]

He was drunk on the wheelchair, oily, black skin, black, greasy hair, greasy, black overalls, Dead drunk on the side of the road, Wheelchair crooked up against the curb, head hanging off the back, eyes wide-open and rolled right up, cars swerving passed carelessly, Was drunk, like any other drunk on the side of the […]

You have to wake up Democratic or not Atheist or deciding Male or female You have to wake up. You must. By force. No, this is not a question of belief No, not one of freedom You are free. You have to wake up until You die. -evocative short poetry- Picture: Mondolithic Studios

Praised by a drunkard, Just when my craving for respect, From Oprah, Obama or The Queen, Seemed to be all the appreciation I needed, She, Walked in, Demanding demurely, hand Held out, just Two sticks. Her praise almost made me cry – she was so dignified tight dress not too tight, just so – Fabulous […]

It’s a revolt. A revolution. And in the name of God, they are building schools, Delivering doctors, door to door. They are conveying the message that people care, And that no one is forgotten but, Cameras are not allowed in some places. People hoist burning American Flags, Which melt and spit plastic, Scarring children with […]

“…and, I will come amongst you, Cloaked in the rags of the sinner; Thus shall ye all be judged.” Painting: Vincent-Patricia Watwood -evocative short poetry-

Tie the thread to the farmer! Marry the Bride to the Groom! Arrange a wedding for five billion people, We are approaching the end! Road rage is the immediate, And sudden reconfiguration of, A prior expectation and we are doing well, The old lady, the Guru and I, We are making effort. It is, In […]

She shifts with the breeze, Neon white with blue streaks, Antenna filtering the air for blossoms, Fabulous, Owning the street, Owning the couple, At sunset before, The African roundabout, A butterfly that will not let go, Wafting beyond reach, Before the hawk and Gently anyway – Ever been a glass-wearer looking for your glasses with, […]

HAAA! THIS PLEASED ME! GO BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW! http://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/insight/

They sing for him, Swinging from heel to frail heel, Growing earth between the ground and, his casket, Bleeding love into the air Like orchids, Humming, They rise again And again their gently swaying busts, Move the air to and fro, To and fro, Intending that mother be comforted, Intending that her wet eyes, Smile […]

  Aliens have been vanquished before. Dolphins, Whales, Elephants, Orchids all, Intelligent, Cannot look after Earth, May have seen the end coming, not Had the means to pollinate, Thought life, Conscious, must Be responsible, For life, have Missed the archer, Choosing the trajectory, Been the arrow, Aliens, Forgetting that food Chains, Are best when, Dolphins, […]

Quantum physics dictates that Looked at directly matter will disappear. Big physics says that electrons can be bound, Entangled, still Unified theory does not allow multiple existences. These are matters of the heart; Sometimes looking at love directly can destroy it, And we don’t want lovers disappearing, To burnt, brawny, Ulaanbaatar without us, we Want […]

Smogasbord, and so Health, A dashboard of delights. Supine could be; Relaxed on a hospital bed, Goose down, Luxurious but bad for your back, Foam, Sometimes current but initially, Uncomfortable, A sister healed, A discussion beyond Mum, Silver hair framing, Ice-blue eyes, Wrinkles round a mouth; Ripe fruit is determined by smell, and A mango, […]

We garden together, He and I, Uprooting rocks, chiseling Fuchsia, We, Argue a lot, and; Framing roses in gold, morning light or, Flaming red sunset, Helps cool raging fires. Birds join us when we are not too loud, Sipping iridescent water from clay pots, Serenading nectar onto rhamphothecae; We squash fat slugs accidentally, And bitterness. […]

Grown men cry saving birds in nests perched high, Teeter on long bamboo poles, Fighting snakes, and extinction, Cry in despair when a chick dies, Cry in joy, When two, Shake tremulous crowns, childhood plumes, So tenuous, Parents squacking overhead in the damp, Damp valley, Valley so high on the dull, Dull mountain, Afraid of […]

  So I thought about my brother and sister a lot this weekend. It’s not like me at all. You don’t count on people just, sort of vanishing. I’ve been talking about death since I was born, so with my Dad it was kinda different. I knew he was dying. It was strange. We both […]

He kills, While we are touching everything else, Touch-screens everywhere, Apparently God kills, In Catholic Garb, Violet, In Coptic yellow, in Jewish robes, God kills surreptitiously, At sunset, On bridges, through Garrulous Muslims, It is a mistake to believe that the only touch-screen around, Is email. God is a touch-screen. We do not remember friends, […]

We don’t dance anymore, And it happened so quickly. We sold our souls on the galactic market, For peanuts. The Earth recovered though, its Nature. We sold everything to be together, We did, and Life happened. This far down the line, we’re all that’s left and You still are, The most beautiful thing about me. […]

  Do chickens hold their food in their feet while they are eating? Some birds actually do, The Ornithologists have declared, Actually hold their food in their feet whilst they are dining, Fine dining, Eat with their hands, Astonishingly, As do a vast array of mammals.   ♦photo♦ Jason Reed for Reuters -evocative short poetry-

  Dreaming of; Colorful balloons on an African plain, Hot air rising, with Rich people making eye contact, Heaving brandy glasses at the bar by the salt-lick lake, Making new friends with, Levitating boobs or Buoyant balls, Out on the reef, whilst; Putting out lurid spread-sheets, At the office photocopier, With Sam, And his dark […]

Bombing everything, You prevaricate, Humans in an upside-down chandelier, Prevaricating, Pompous, Unable, Hot air rising will cool. Cold air, Kelvin Is frozen solid so, Focus. Save a butterfly. Choose. ♦Photo♦ – ThingLink short, evocative, poetry

We spend our days, Getting ready for tomorrow, Hoping the past will not catch us, The bad eating, the saccharin juices, when Now is the only moment, to Love, to Speak, Re-pack your life, forgive – Go, On an adventure or, Simply state your piece, It will be alright. We may yet, Save the climate. […]

The brown bee, Big as a bear, That visits my Polyandra, Flies meticulous patterns around morning blooms Dispersing pollen, As easily as the hummingbird next to it, Serenades hibiscus. We spend time collecting memories and ornaments like, Christmas bulbs have no lifetime, We miss Pansy’s and Holly’s and Twinkly lights, At Sundown, When closets shut, […]

If we are to be Gods we must, Musk, Be life forms using noses and spectrograms, Be blue animals, Hurtling through space, dentists Doxologists, Cobblers mending hard drives, Therapists, Slippers, Saving the world, Changing the climate, Becoming responsible politicians, Setting safe harbour as we go. -short evocative poetry-

Promises are made to be broken, Thwarted, Made again, Whilst Jasmine pours, Perfume; Where God, Is an impression, a Figment, Asking why, if Birds and fish and, Creatures of all kinds, Flourish, You terrorize one other? Impossible, Even at a crimson sunset, to Say sorry first, Survive polluting Earth? Picture – ♦Reuters/Daily Mail♦ -short evocative […]

It is raining outside. I am reminded that, Rain has rhythm. Rhythm has heart-beat, A beat, a Rat-a-tat-tat, Every city has its gangsters, its’ Street corners, its Unbelievers, every Heart has its beat, and Every beating heart, its’ God, Where folly is a pink bear, An African American, A bionic car round the bend, Sunlight […]

  I am right. You may say that I am not, but I have, Demanded love and, You, Are wrong. Black and blue and red hummingbird, I Know what I am saying, you Left the kids again, And we argue, Tall as bamboo we, Kill each other, Taking long hours to, Identify precisely who left […]

    They shot the cheese cake. High heels, Eye-liner, Battle-ship, Village people, Purple tortoise Yelling, The light of day, Grey, The road, Dim, Muddy, Single lane, Wet, Pools reflecting torch-light, Forest in sillouette, Trees in moonlight, Going home now, Finished now, Homeward bound.    

I would have to have eight hundred haircuts, To, Buy the ‘Professionals hair-cutter’ electric clippers I, Saw on offer, at the shop window whilst having a pee, and Trying to hit the resting mosquito on the wall, With my urine, -stream of thought- When, I noticed the incessant sound of welding, Work-shop beside the loo, […]

Kiswahili in Brooklyn, Mercedes outside, and I’m falling in love with my country. Seven days he works. Day’s off, he says Entrepreneur, he plays Doing what he can to cut hair well and, Provide a space For the rich and poor, The men and women, Who do their hair and freely discuss, Their politics in […]

It is patience that destroyed Adam and Eve, Not the hooded serpent, With beady eyes, Not the salacious Jezebel, Hiding her fanny, Not the woman, The patience, You see, The knowing without power, The waiting for death and its meager offerings, You’ve got to face the day, come what may Your smiling face will see […]

​ It came from the right side like God, or a deer, a Migraine warning; Chemotherapy strikes at any time. Where am I going wrong? Under community skies and red roofed buildings, immaculate And unfinished, Holding on for next week’s rent, Even if you were alive, I’d not have listened, Missing a father to say […]

I hear God in cushion prints, Leopard pants, Ancestors, We Forget; What if it took place at midnight, would you Stack hay and win, Chicago with the broad shoulders, Hunt mosquitos, Midnight lover, the Ebullient wrestler in a, Pink Venetian mask, Would you, Be a brute, Pretending the contender was not God, Brisk breeze, Be […]

​ Builders will continue to build, and White folk dumpster dive,  In the winter anyway, In red, And blue overalls, scavenge – Scavenger, Some for profit, others fun, and I Cannot be a predator, I Cannot carry luggage, I Am dying, and Perhaps giving things away, a book or something will relive the pain, lord […]

Smelly in the corner, On a black, Leather sofa, We speak he and I with oiled bodies, we Recline at will, With silver-lined laptops, With morning beer in, Plastic cups, ice-cream Tins, we Touch minds gently across thrusting porn-stars, He and I, and we We will make it happen, Perhaps, Emigrate, Fiddle with love beyond […]

Never mind Lawyers, Children with no mouths, Never mind Inspiration, Write Now. Photo – ♦Personal♦ -short evocative poetry-

You punish me for telling you my fantasy, At night I lock the door so no one else can see, Refrain, Come Oberon! Able only to gasp at the splendor of the sun! Photo – ♦Natsumi Hayashi♦ -evocative short poetry-

Attack your assailant with the baguette, You are carrying in your hand. Soft weapon. Transgender toilet, Beat the crap out of the hoodlum, male Or female, Black or white, think Not you must explain, Why, during the attack Men should not wear, Flaming pink knickers, demand The sex of the person approaching, On the dark […]

  We’ve all seen them, Womens circle knitting on, Saturday, Mens having breakfast to learn, How to lead, Ever been inside a church, I mean inside? You know the ones; Don’t Talk on the phone when you’re, Writing notes, Don’t come in late when Next door, Looking over the shoulder of The fat woman in […]

I remember her detail, How she looked, how she talked to her husband, I just stood on the pavement and cried, I’ll Never see her again, not here, That’s it. Whatever came, came for a moment and then left, we were Going to live forever. I don’t get in touch with anyone anymore, It scares […]

You punish me for telling you my fantasy, At night I lock the door so no one else can see, Watch while the queen, In one false move, Turns herself into a pawn, It’s like- Drinking gasoline to quench your thirst until there’s nothing there left at all, I Went to the doctor I, Went […]

Dead beetles die in their skins, and Seychellois, Mauritanians, Maurtians, Martians, Fighting with sun-tans all, and Bad lip jobs, In Nairobi, Silent giraffes grope for love, God, Tends to antelopes, The world ends In a traffic jam or, Dicks in space-suits building railways​ through the heart of a city. ♦Photo♦ Friends of Nairobi National Park -short evocative […]

I don’t have friends, I do not think. Friends get married, and Drive bigger cars and, Have more intelligent things to talk about, better Places to go, are Becoming lawyers and doctors and ministers, Big people, and It sort of interrupts things. ♦photos♦ Jacob’s Ladder -short evocative poetry-

  sweets on a plate empty tuperware lens cleaner is, What we took to bed. Red he says, but he’s deaf, With earphones on, Police frames and Louis Vuittion, Cardboard handbags, And perfect lips, Peach by the way, like I said, I Lost my shoes in India and the Geisha wasn’t real.   ♦photo♦ – Hyunception: Movie […]

And I’ll be dust to dust bound to, Shifting black wicker furniture just so, Patrons aren’t disturbed, By the rain between, The hair-do and the pedicure, separated At least, By three floors if the lifts are working, me I’m just Splashing mops against mauve tile, they Flashing manicured smiles, we Electing marvelous politicians in fashionable leather, […]

Cheese occurs at night, Counting lovers, Gerald Jason, Daniel, Some guy at the Holiday Inn, Leonard, Han, Rolf, Keshavjii, Simon, Like that, they Say a healthy lifetime has ten to twenty, Lovers. ♦Photo – Self♦ -short evocative poetry-