At the Circus
We blamed it on the clowns. It could have been the high- wire tension, the thundering hooves, the bulk of an elephant whipped upwards, the chaos of a crowd, so many clapping hands, whoops of emotion, all of it wild to us. We fled to the family car. My brother’s wet shorts stuck to the leathery seats. Dad offered us a choice but once safely extracted, we couldn’t return. Home where we sheltered for years, keeping away from circuses. The Beginning of Division In the last skinny years of primary school, we changed for sports in separate rooms, segregated Boys and Girls - suddenly capitalized. A desire grew to know why. Wild Michael led the way, as normal. He used his Pound Lane climbing skills to clamber into the roofing, via loose tiles, and crawl across the chasm to the girls. We’d watch his feral body disappear and leave behind twitching feet, hear furtive whispers about underwear. Sudden squeals and he’d scuttle back, dust descending, his Cheshire Cat grin. What did you see? Innocently packing his bag when Teacher strode in wondering what the fuss was with the girls. I asked and later he told me what sex was. You stick it in and leave it there for a bit. I thought that was suspiciously simple, not at all deserving of the divisions. Published in September 2022 in Prose, Poetry & Prose, #33.
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Fishing For Poems
I was asked, what is poetry like? Perhaps like the northern flicker riffling the rim of the path, probing into the wood-chipped, damp earth for a morsel to maintain its spirit. No, it’s like fishing. You set up your intentions on the bank of the brown page and cast off into the current of images and ideas. then wait for inspiration to nibble your bait, sink the float and the poem bites. Now the real struggle begins: wrestling with imagery, trying to land the wriggling language on the bank of verses. Out of the plopping water flops the first draft. Disappointingly underdeveloped. Poets never exaggerate the catch. A poem is always ‘this’ big, often smaller, a tiddler in the powerful play, but still something to contribute to Whitman’s waters. Always Hoping To Write a Great Poem Often the keyboard is sterile. I stare out of the window and watch the trees. Maybe something no one has ever said about trees. Forget the clouds, too obvious. The blue sky, yawn. Birds bouncing around, little Buddha’s not having to worry about creation. I hear the song of a hundred ghostly ideas ganging up behind me, giggling. I sense the almost complete emptiness inside every atom. Ideas like electronics zip around, all potential, waves of hope. I feel the bonding of a basic shape. But as I write, it wriggles and flitters out of my mind. I grab, but it is gone. Just the scent and shadow, a fear I will never know the elements to turn leaden words into gold. Published on 09/21/22 in Sparks of Calliope. Being just a poor British boy grown
where London’s roots defile Saxon towns, common woods and meadows, I know little about agriculture beyond the shelves and tin cans of childhood. So when I see the field of pumpkins on the edge of I-5 North, the bulbous fruit strung out like orange pearls in finely tuned rows, small hard heads lolled on the dry soil, I am amazed that so much can be gained from these ignorant seeds. Published in Willawa Journal Fall 2022, #15 |
Poetry Biography:I have had over 70 poems published in the following worldwide magazines and literary journals: A Handful of Stones, Acta Victoriana (Canada), All the Sins (UK), The Amethyst Review (USA), Amsterdam Quarterly (NL) The Blue Nib (Ireland), Bolts of Silk, Borderless Journal, The Brasilia Review (Brazil), Bushfire Literature & Arts Review (US), Cadenza, Cake Magazine, Carillon, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal (Hong Kong), DASH (USA), Clackamas Literary Review (USA), Cooch Behar Anthology, Dawntreader, Dreamcatcher, The Dillydoun Review, Earth Love, The Ear (US), Eastlit (East Asia), Erbacce, Envoi, Finger Dance Festival, Ginosko, Gloom Cupboard, Hidden Channel, Inlandia Journal, IS&T (Ink, Sweat & Tears), Into the Void (Canada), The Journal, The Lakeview Journal (India), Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Lunch Ticket (USA) The New Writer, One Hand Clapping, Orbis, Oregon English Journal (USA), The Passage Between, Prole, Sentinel Literary Quarterly, Sonic Boom (India), Third Wednesday (USA), Of Nepalese Clay (Nepal), New Contrast (South Africa), One Hand Clapping, Opportunity Publishing, The Oregon English Journal (USA) Origami Poems Project (USA), The Paddock Review (USA), Panoplyzine (USA), Paper Swan Press, The Passage Between, The Peacock Journal (USA), Pens on Fire, Poetry Salzburg (Austria), Potomac Review, (USA) Prole, Pulsar Poetry, Rear View Poetry, Queen Mob's Teahouse, Qutub Minar Review (India), Red Ink, Shiela-Na-Gig (USA), South Bank Poetry Magazine, Stand, Waterford Teachers Centre, (Ireland) We Are a Website New Literary Journal (Singapore), Weber - The Contemporary West Review (USA), Windfall (USA), Writing Magazine, Words for the Wild and Verbal Art (India). Archives
March 2024
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