Defiled

Spring, five years ago
A child still and reckoning
With the future
I committed the gravest sins
With you.
It is as real as real as real
A big, black mark
On my blotter.
Unresolved and unabsolved
Still a criminal now
As much as then
There is blight
On my leaves
And rot
At my roots.
I am defiled forever more.

Hell

Do you know the real
hell of it? Five years later,
I'm still not ok

Karaoke night

Wednesday night
Is karaoke night
And I am here
With you
Among the half drunk
Pint nursers
And the sad, tired
Minimum wagers
And I have determined
That I will sing
You are surrounded
As always
By people
Who have no idea
But your face
Shines out in the
Hazy crowd
I am drunk too
Too drunk perhaps
Full of false courage
Standing there
Before the aged mic
I open my mouth
And shut my eyes
To shut out the faces
And I can see
Only you, half smiling
Speaking without speaking
And the voice
That comes out
Is not my voice
It is a secret siren call
For you alone
That you may be
Wrecked upon my shore
And I may believe
You are in my thrall
Here
Among the empty
Glasses, and half broken
Chairs. Wednesday night
Is karaoke night
And I have sung
A song to seal my ruin

Summer storms

Soaked clothes on soaked skin
Sad summer storms make madness
Of rational men

Cave in

You all seem to be
Exploding while I slowly
Quietly cave in

The Taxidermist's Shop

I submitted this to a magazine a while ago and never heard anything back so I'm assuming it's ok to publish it now:

Through a pane of elderly glass,
besmirched by years of inattention,
they gaze out -
a menagerie of vacant faces,
surveying the empty street,
ill-lit by adulterated London beams.

A bear.
A badger.
A bat.

Animals, exotic and otherwise,
hold silent court, breathless and
becalmed in perpetual stillness.
They have been
made eternal by the purveyor
of a dying art, and keep company
forever with the bettors and diners

who stare occasionally,
open-mouthed for a moment,
affording them a split second's
amazement before they walk away,
and leave them, flightless and sightless
still.

Did you ever see two people kissing (an attempt at humour)

Did you ever see two people kissing
And think
What's she doing with him
Or he with her
Or she with her
Or he with him
You know what I mean
There's a mismatch somewhere
Something that doesn't
Quite add up
Did you ever see two people kissing
And think
God, they must have
amazing sex
Because there's no way
An eight
Nearly a nine
Would be dating a four
Maybe a three
Unless there's some kind of awesome
Carnal prowess involved
Did you ever see two people kissing
And think
I know I shouldn't stare
I know I shouldn't stare
Why can't I stop staring
Just stop staring
But you can't look away
Because his tongue in her braces
Is like a hideous accident
Involving a combine harvester
And someone's -
Did you ever see two people kissing
And think
If they can do it
Why can't I
I must be a five
At least
Or maybe a six
On a good day
When my hair is clean
And I'm not wearing
The trousers with the split
In the seam
Did you ever see two people kissing
And wonder
What you've been doing wrong
What incantation
They must have wrought
To close the gap
That gaping gulf
On that disparity
Of physical beauty
Did you ever see two people kissing
And think
If there's hope for them
There's hope for me