SHE STOOD IN THE DOORWAY OF HER SMILE

She stood in the doorway of her smile,
Wordlessly asked me in;
I opened my mouth to reply, but she
Hopped over and entered.
If you were to lift off the top of my skull
You'd see her making a home in my head,
Blowing the dust out of corners,
Drawing on the back of abandoned manuscripts,
Turning friends' photos and postcards into collages,
At night curling up in a nest of yellowed newspaper clippings.
I wish her well -
My head has been empty too long.
But... does she realise there are stairs down?

Published in Ambit 186 (UK), October 2006

Rap poetry

Rap is a manifestation of three things:

1. The human search for poetic expression
2. The potential expressions in rhythm and rhyme that are specific to English
3. The abysmal standard of literary education in the United States

American education does virtually nothing to develop skills in rhythm and rhyme - specifically, it does very little to develop the ability to recite long passages emotionally and verbatim (for both of which rhythm and rhyme are extremely useful).

However, the natural desire for emotional and verbatim recitation still finds an outlet, even among the least skilled, in rap.

I find it putrid, for the most part.

"Let us go then, you and I"

Dear Mr. Eliot, delightful though I find The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, surely the correct phrase should be "Let us go then, you and me".

"Us" is "you and me"; "we" is "you and I". So "you and me" is what it has to be, unless you opt for, say, Jamaican patois: "Mek we go den, you an I"... or maybe, "Mek we go den, you an I an I!"

BEE

Through the honeyed halls of autumn
Hums the angry, aging bee;
With her work facing fruition,
And her life, redundancy.

Published in Candelabrum (UK), October 2005

HIGHLAND SPRING

Bulls lean head to head
In motionless battle;
Notionless cattle
Stroll the strand
And graze;
Sheep
Sleep
Or idly stand
Idly gaze
Down on the rocks
By the sea snore.

Published in Candelabrum (UK), April 2005