All Poems

The Mathematics of Us

The geometry of lust

creates a non-equilateral triangle

where fractals of love
form and reform.

Every School Bully

I’m here again.

It’s that time of day again.

Time for school.

The Thing Beneath Grandma’s Bed

Grandma has an old fashioned bed,

with a big wooden frame and springs.

The sort of bed that has space underneath it,

Vampires play football too

There was a young vampire called Rad,

who had a famous dad, called Vlad.

After school, when Rad rushed home to play footie,

In(her) reality

HATE is not…

forgetting what was done,

or forgiving those who did it.

A Question of Faith

I am tired of this now being,

I am tired of this being now.

 

An Autism Acrostic

 
A pebble stack

This is one of a pair of poems I wrote in response to Ben asking, at the age of 24, for an autism assessment (see also link here to American football poem). This poem was an exercise in trying something new with an acrostic, trying a new format whilst getting the message across of how difficult it can be to be neurodiverse.

PUBLISHED in Fragments of an Unquiet Mind: A Poetry and Artwork Anthology

Autistic American Football

I run interference for him.

He’s my quarterback,

but one who only rarely makes his own play.

Look what computers did to my family

Here I stand, resolute, but alone,

struggling to cling to the last vestiges

of face to face family life.

My dad was poetry to me

The man who taught me to ride a bike,

(by pretending he was still holding on) is gone.

The man who taught me how to drive his car,

Diluting Family Trees

part 1 – Breaking up

So, we finally let go

you and I –

A Dog for All Seasons

This is my dog,

My Tess.

My true companion.

Rainbow

If you can

Look, see the children play.

Build sunshine from rain

On a night so deep you can taste it

On a night so deep you can taste it,

I read your letter, aloud.

Quietly.

The Boy Who Grew a Mane

When Ben was ten,

he thought, for a while,

I’ll grow my hair long,

Post Covid: Special Needs Kids

What happens to…

the ‘rear’ kids?

the ones with the silent voices

Berries in the snow

Hidden in barren boughs

iced berries, like frosted rubies,

await the raw sunshine warmth of the day.

To Derek

I miss

The early morning kitchen cups of tea

Catching up on the news and gossip

The Corona Quiet

So quiet the land –

the lanes, the paths

the leafy glades.

A RAGE Of Cancer

I am RAGE!

And rage is ME.

Blinding, bubbling,

Competing Religion: From the window of a train

All across the flat lands,

The scattered stoic stone spires of English churches,

reach towards the sky,

Work In Progress

And the noise, the noise,

It’s all white in my head.

And all I want,

Green is for Remembrance

So now green is for remembrance,

And yellow roses too.

And the slippers in the hall

Our Tess

We had a dog that came free with a lead,

A young black puppy – a mix of a breed.

We called her Tess, and it seemed to suit her well –

Broken Lies

Too well I slaked my thirst

On truth untold.

(Alas) Too well.

Pantomime

In the castle of my heart,

You are the keep.

In the doorways of my mind,

The Peace of War

On a cold, snowing morn,

Two soldiers met at war.

As they faced each other weapons in hand,