the  poet raped the muse

 it was too late

for the moment had passed

and might never return  

 petals fall

the river runs away

chortling

 in the room

dishwasher sounds

in the womb

 thoughts condense 

in the mind’s cooling towers

• haiku drip

 running around 

expounding the quietude 

of a deep breath

 rising wind

orange sky

• warm chair

 prick!

it’s a bramble

i intone

 corner seat

the retired mathematician 

still doing his sums

 this morning 

even the lanterns 

are covered in snow

                   dawn’s

light music

- the cat snoozes

 storm

he ran away to see

the sea

 that wood pigeon 

falling down from the hawk

• squashed by a car

 oh pussy cat

don’t be an idiot

all your lives 

 

along with his poems

to the one who asked for them

a bookmark 

the reader

is the lock

for the poet’s key

the reader 

is the key

to the poet’s lock

the reader

of a poet’s poems

is a poet

the poet

is a reader of 

a reader

the poet and the reader 

are one and the same as the

reader and the poet are

take my word for it

the poet said

no  said the reader 

it is far too valuable

the reader said 

you have my attention

i salute you 

the poet said 

chanting in unison 

the poet and the reader

are each other’s echo

then when

the word silence silenced them

they exchanged books

 

 in the box

with those who

live outside of the box

 AI   aye aye

the cleaner yanks its plug

serendipity 

 live streaming

of beautiful images

- bus ride 

 the old people who

know the secret of long life

remember the dead

 white as a sheet 

the lady with a handkerchief

gripping her handbag

lightly touches a cross 

endless war graves

 every old person

pronounces the secret of longevity

over the years

 our hearts

took the icicle home to mum

it melted

 one tree

in this field of snow

silence - listen 

 electroplated 

long john’s nickel silver

• jim lad

 frozen field

ten thousand steps then

i may look back

 guesthouse midnight

on my way to the toilet 

a floorboard breaks wind

 a blue sky

pulling at the plum buds

• snow forecast 

 who laid here

and laid these gentle words 

a pillow for my today

 nothing is

as black as a lake at night

when nothing was

 locked church doors

to keep god in

or sinners out 

if it can be stolen 

then it ain’t god’s

 slowly

it’s suddenly dawn

• snooze button

 morning light

the very definition

of soon

                        bedtime 

reading essays about haiku

• soft music

 iPad

the top left corner 

belongs to the cat

 they all said

it is the year of the enemy

all of them 

 a beach

without the sky

is just wet sand 

 football field

the council van delivers

white lines 

 if i don’t

but i had an urge to

- am i guilty

 recharge my phone

or let me AI friend die

who knows

 cakes

i bags the biggest one

but they were all the same size

        if 

i am not taken 

 then take me

 first light

the frost on the hillside

is turning pink

modern chimes

a sonic boom caught

on a doorbell cam

 ringing the dentist 

the holding holding music

sets my teeth on edge

it was a play on words

but they refused to play

and missed the points  

 we imagine 

what we cannot see

as being far worse

 all these leaves

keeping spring’s toes warm

a budding friendship

 cold morning ~ 

warming my fingers

above the toaster

 dawn’s light

out of the mist comes

an old friend

 scratching the cat’s back

in time with the jazz radio

• purrfect we agree

 social media

a mutual appreciation 

society

 street corner pulpit

jesus loves you my child

i think not she replies

there between

my house and my neighbour’s house

the floodlit temple

 it was a picture 

that said home just in time

the owls agreed 

 oh never not me

is an assertion that chokes 

in many throats

 the amusement

of an autumn leaf

in winter

 the moment 

before that moment

became a moment

i’ll not be angry

why should they claim that 

here take this smile 

 i am the emperor 

yes yes the people intoned

that’s nICE for you

 impeachment 

hold the asylum door

here he comes 

 doom scrolling 

every night it ends with

trump

 doctor i’ve …

do not worry it will go

- it’s come back

 the birds

they acknowledged me

as we went our ways

 is the tree laughing 

at its long winter shadow 

i do hope so

 named storm
if this were not sleet
it would be snow

 static

the ballon falls from the wall

- hair of the dog

 storm 

the cat and the squirrel

cross paths 

 north wind

the cat bolts south

then east and west 

 we ran out of breath 

 my generation

we pushed the boundaries 

to where you left them

 a robot

invented a robot

- ad infinitum 

 to the child’s delight

by the slicing machine

- crusts!

 the nest is empty

the bird is dead

- no moon

 storm forecast

the last leaf on the hazel

is a sparrow

 slag tips

the ever-changing shape 

of my childhood

 the cat

went out the front door

came in the back 

 a dead poets words

they don’t remain here

they become here

witch’s knickers

farting in the wind tree

- no ladder  

 christmas card

the letter knife is so cold

- warm words

 12th night

a moonbeam reaches

the last chocolate

 eating last summer

the pigeon shits fertiliser 

for tomorrow’s seeds

 undone by

your explanation’s leash

the poem ran away