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WHEN I'M ASLEEP IN A BEDROOM
THEY WAKE ME UP AND KILL ME
BUT I'M GETTING TOO OLD FOR THAT
Telephones
The telephone rings
and it always rings
You pick it up
there are voices but it's useless
The telephone goes on ringing
the voices go on being useless
When the telephone stops ringing
the voices go on
The telephone starts ringing again
You pick it up
Trains
The train rushed by
on its way to Newark Grantham
Peterborough and London
I wondered if it was
the same one I had left
my library book on last week
Murder in Mind
Behind me at the traffic lights
a philosopher mouthed
something in my direction
Newspapers
Old ones are good for starting
bonfires or if you don't want to
start a bonfire how about
a house fire? Houses burn really
well: then the Fire Brigade
comes along and your fire
is in the newspapers It's fun
Churches
Glistening in the rain
I waited for you to come
at the appointed time
The graveyard was newly mown
Cars
By the river the cars graze
Animals
Animals can be just about anything
and any kind. Some are really tall
so they can eat things that are in
the sky and they enjoy the moisture
of the clouds and others are quite short
with their heads almost on the ground
but that's good because they probably
live off bugs that live on the ground
although it's not good for the bugs.
Some are very colourful and merge
with the background if they are
in say a fabric shop or wandering
through a very lively fairground or
by some concrete wall that has been
joyously graffitied while some are dull
and brown or grey and do not show up
against bracken or dead hedges or
in a crowded room where everyone
is wearing either brown or grey. Some
animals revel in exotic names like
armadillo or orang utan while others
make do with rat or cow and some
enjoy hot weather all the time and
others live for ever in cold and rain.
Some animals are good to eat and
some aren't although it's pretty much
a matter of personal taste a lot of
the time. They can be either
carnivores or herbivores or maybe
a bit of both. Some animals used to be
alive in the world but now there aren't
any anymore but mythical creatures
like the unicorn live where we can't go.
Houses
You were so pretty. You had blue
in your eyes that were windows
upon the world. Only a little cloud
lurking there. Which got bigger.
I knew I could never afford you.
Shops
When I die
let it not be
in a shop
Babies
I woke up
in the middle of the night
dreaming about
BABIES
You know I love you
and would do anything
for you except
BABIES
I saw a gorgeous young girl
pushing a trolley
down the street
it was full of
BABIES
Space is awash with aliens and
BABIES
I lay in bed
smoking and sweating
afraid we might have made
BABIES
Celebrities
The sound of no wind
not blowing
in an empty space
full of reflections
in a mirror
that would have been broken
if it had been where
is nowhere.
Aeroplanes
They take you to other places
some of them exotic and interesting
some of them not and cold and hot
An aeroplane can also take you
by surprise and to meet God
Wages
At the end of the day
At the end of the week
At the end of the month
At the end of the year
At the end of the road
At the end of the rope
Cities
Once upon a time I lived alone in a city
tall and gloomy yet fashionable
It stood at the side of a lake
where it was easy to drown yourself
or go boating and look back upon
the shape the buildings made
against the sky at beautiful sunset
The restaurants were very expensive
Some people did this
and others did that It was always noisy
Neighbours
Our neighbour exited his house
and noisily cleared his throat in the street
spitting to leave a damp and writhing pile of phlegm
on the road for everyone to see
Then his neighbour exited his house
and complained to anyone who would listen
that he couldn't park his car
because their was too much phlegm in the road
Nobody could hear him
because his neighbours were in their garden
shouting at one another and listening to music
that was turned up to eleven on the dial
Televisions
Count the televisions in this house:
go on:
count them. Do we have enough?
DECASYLLABLES
HELLO
I'm Shifty from Crazy Town.
Will you talk to me?
THAT'S LIFE
I think
you smile
and you don't smile.
That's life.
WINDOWS
When we are gone
who will care
for the windows?
THE DREAMS
Instantly
the dreams
of the dreamer
were no longer
dreamable.
BREATHING
My life was meaningless
and my breathing becoming
increasingly ironical.
THEFT
My bike has
just been
trying to get itself pinched.
SOMEBODY SHOULD TELL SOMEBODY WHAT IT'S LIKE HERE
Words written on my head -- Birds circling around my bed
DEMOCRACY
I want to speak
to the government.
You know: Politics.
AND YET AGAIN
Another life
stares you in the face
and it's horrible.
SENTIMENTAL
In your absence
the world is filled
with big emptiness.
JOURNAL
I couldn't wake up
today
Almighty God, ruler of all
PLEASE
Love me. I am brilliant
and handsome. Really I am.
MIME
Someone is calling out to me
but they don't speak.
BE MY FRIEND
You sound like
a very nice man.
You sound tall.
HAIR
She was in dreadful danger
of
overflicking
her long hair.
IDENTITY PARADE
Is that you? Is that you?
Sorry, no --
itÕs me.
I DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD BE MAKING
A DRAMA OUT OF A CRISIS
He said he had his penis
stuck.
Where?
In Scarborough.
WEDNESDAY 7TH AUGUST
It were
a long
slow
boring day just
like yesterday.
IN THE KITCHEN
A teenager orbits Uranus
but doesn't know
that it's wonderful.
WORDS
They have a beginning
and an end. So does this.
PAYING FOR IT
I'll pay for it. Lonely
and sad: paying for it.
GOODBYE
I don't think it's really
an emergency.
My husband's dead.
©
Martin Stannard 2004
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