Goodbat Nightman by Roger McGough
God bless all policemen and fighters of crime, May thieves go to jail for a very long time. They’ve had a hard day helping clean up the town, Now they hang from the mantelpiece both upside down. A glass of warm blood and then straight up the stairs, Batman and Robin are saying their prayers. […]
First Day at School by Roger McGough
A millionbillionwillion miles from home Waiting for the bell to go. (To go where?) Why are they all so big, other children? So noisy? So much at home they Must have been born in uniform Lived all their lives in playgrounds Spent the years inventing games That don’t let me in. Games That are rough, […]
Did you call me Love by Rohini bhatia singh
When you call me love Did you call me love Is that what you meant In a breath In a word the World melts before Oceans spilling into Fluffy clouds filled With rain pouring Puddles of swishy mud Beneath our feet Left footprints in sand Wash desires our way Did you call me love Love […]
Cauls of Haw by Roland Bastien
Cauls of Haw by Roland Bastien Dedicated to Janet and Yoko Do I possess my properties? A man asked to himself, hurtled his corpus and flensed it Until his bones cracked. By advertence The fleet gestures dropped in the air dust left by the tin tan over his cheeks and arms. He pelted like a […]
Cake by Roger McGough
i wanted one life you wanted another we couldn’t have our cake so we ate eachother. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the ultimate repository of world poetry. Poetry Monster — the multilingual library of poetic works. Here you’ll find […]
Beguiling by Roger McGough
She is so beguiling That when she beckons I can run a mile In twenty seconds. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the ultimate repository of world poetry. Poetry Monster — the multilingual library of poetic works. Here you’ll find […]
You Look Up Pictures of Icelandic Ponies by Ruth Madievsky
before sleep and carry a box cutter for protection you are an animal that is all loins and no dexterity you are the loneliness and non-loneliness of a planet with a flag in it and something ugly raccoon-paws the inner lining of your throat but you swallow it and you smash a snow globe in […]
Words Of Advice by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Nelson Auguste, my Grandson) Nurture the finest traits to gild your time. Extol the strengths and virtues of all things. Let poets sing their songs, in prose or rhyme. Serenely sip the joys the sweet sort brings. Of all the habits which you might acquire, None should impair that deity in your mind. Ascribe […]
Who is the Bogeyman? by Ross D Tyler
“The Bogeyman will get you!” That’s what Nana said. “Brush your teeth and say your prayers, And don’t get out of bed!” But Grannies scary warnings, Of this unknown, frightful fiend, Is something I’ve often thought about, What did Granny mean? Who is this horrible Bogeyman? This creature of the gloom. The one who must […]
Wherever You Go, There You Are by Ryssel Guzman
Where ever you go, there you are. You can lie to yourself but you can’t run away Suppression, mental repression,Leads to depression.Lying to yourself daily,Self deluded.No wonder you’re so wasted.Numbed by your own convictions.Coward you let them feed you,So you don’t have to think for yourself.Oh it’s so much easier that way.What happens when it’s you […]
We Miss You So Much by Ronald G. Auguste
(In Memoriam, for Daryl, after Twenty Years) We miss you so much, Son, in all these years, Enduring in our hearts a constant woe. Most thoughts of you still lead our souls to tears. Increasingly, though slowly, as years go, Sorrows engage our feelings … blow by blow. So much remains of dreams we used […]
Trial by Ruth Padel
Trial by Ruth Padel I was with Special Force, blue-X-ing raids to OK surfing on the Colonel’s birthday. Operation Ariel: we sprayed Jimi Hendrix loud from helis to frighten the slopes before ‘palming. A turkey shoot. * The Nang fogged up. The men you need are moral and kill like angels. Passionless. No judgement. Judgement […]
To A Wife, On Mother’s Day by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Anita, my Wife) Especial thoughts, my Darling, come to you, Served from my heart, with Love that overflows. Pause for a moment from the things you do – Observe that Love spread high, in rows on rows. I prize this day … and prize you as you are – No measure can suffice to […]
Tiger Drinking at Forest Pool by Ruth Padel
Tiger Drinking at Forest Pool by Ruth Padel Water, moonlight, danger, dream. Bronze urn, angled on a tree root: one Slash of light, then gone. A red moon Seen through clouds, or almost seen. Treasure found but lost, flirting between The worlds of lost and found. An unjust law Repealed, a wish come true, a […]
Threads of Gold by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Etienne Walden, my Granddaughter) Educe the sweet and kinder truths in life, That you may taste of joys the Angels know. Infuse your being with beauty, lest man’s strife Efface the blooms in gardens where you go. Never display your beauty just for show. Never ignore another’s grief or pain. Effuse compassion on life’s […]
Thoughts by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Daryl Auguste, my Grandson) Dare you aspire to reach the eagle’s height, And soar beyond the common, out of sight? Reason and intuition say: “You can!” Yet you must learn to bear the ills of man, Lest all their minds’ diseases make you weak. Govern your actions wisely as you seek Under life’s unrelenting […]
The useless counsellor by Ross D Tyler
He sits down. He is ready. He’s got his ‘counsellors hat on’. But the client seems unhappy, Finding chewing gum she sat on. ‘Sorry about the awful mess’ He says, ‘I haven’t got a bin.’ ‘Would you like a glass of wine, or perhaps a tot of Gin?’ ‘No thanks’ the client quietly declined, ‘Alcohol’s […]
The tragic tale of Bobby Magee by Ross D Tyler
Picture a dark and terrible night, In a Treehouse my friends sat by candlelight, Shadows and whispers, eyes gazing at me, First to be dared was Bobby Magee. Bobby was Irish and terribly thin, His father was hairy and liked to drink Gin, To be in our Club was Bob’s number one plan, But first […]
The Scarecrow by Ross D Tyler
The mud is thick, the clouds are grey, Alone I stand here, in dismay. For months I will wait, without any friends, Standing on duty, ”til harvest ends. But wait. What’s that I see in the soil? There are tiny plants beginning to coil Upwards and outwards, reaching up to the sun, Their journey has […]
The (REAL) Tale of the Tortoise and the Hare by Ross D Tyler
Today I’m going to talk about, The Tortoise and the Hare, One was slow and one was quick, They really made a pair! I’m sure you all know the proverb, And perhaps you know the end? But the version you know simply isn’t the truth, You have been deceived my friend! Was the Hare quite […]
The missing pen by Ross D Tyler
I’ve done it again! I’ve lost me pen! I don’t know how, I don’t know when? Perhaps He’ll show, Perhaps He’s gone, Perhaps he’s back where he belongs? “Where does he belong?” I hear you cry, “A Magical pencil case in the sky?” Well he won’t come back, I know this now, He’s hiding away […]
The Appointment by Ruth Padel
The Appointment by Ruth Padel Flamingo silk. New ruff, the ivory ghost of a halter. Chestnut curls, * commas behind the ear. “Taller, by half a head, than my Lord Walsingham.” * His Devon-cream brogue, malt eyes. New cloak mussed in her mud. * The Queen leans forward, a rosy envelope of civet. A cleavage […]
Ten Years After by Graham Rowlands
Ten years after every beautiful cliche wearing jeans & kaftans & long hair & cheesecloth— after every beautiful cliche has gone or may as well have for all it means now L.B.J.’s gone & Che’s gone & Ho’s gone & Mao’s gone to their biographers in the sky without diamonds or L.S.D. Ten years after […]
Telescopes In The Square by Graham Rowlands
On Australia Day too. Good to see you. Like to sit on the grass? Good view. Up. Put your eye to the mouth of the flagon. Yes, eye. Go on. That’s all you have to do. Let me see. Here’s the green. I like green. Good for banks, building co-ops, insurance companies. That dark patch, […]
South Africa by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Nelson Mandela) Indeed! It is a new and shining land! So do not waste the New Day passing blame! From utter desolation, something grand Is rising … to obliterate the shame! The sun has set upon the sorry fields, And golden stars are twinkling in the skies. A new sun, rising on the New […]
Shattered Dreams. Broken Promises. by Russell James
Shattered Dreams. Broken Promises. by Russell James Shattered Dreams. Broken Promises. Unachieved Goals sadden souls. Feeling lost with no where to go feeling alone filled with sorrow. Went down the wrong path. Now I’m feeling the wrath of absolute failure man oh man this is such a Disaster. Will I be able to pick myself […]
Savour Your Life by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Sedacy Walden, my Grandson) Savor your life, and try to live it well! Each day should be a milestone on the path Devoted to pure Truth, where Angels dwell, And Love and Kindness keep one’s mind from wrath. Cherish each moment of each passing day. Your life should be a charm, where joy holds […]
Rosslyn To The Prime Minister by Graham Rowlands
Whatever I do now I’ll have your consensus against me— quite right to say you snow in the tropics only at the highest altitude of your own risk if you want an alternative Australia. But you & your consensus don’t do you, sport? Sports? Father? It’s only your economy, after all— refining, processing, high-tech. We’re […]
Writing to Onegin by Ruth Padel
Writing to Onegin by Ruth Padel (After Pushkin) Look at the bare wood hand-waxed floor and long White dressing-gown, the good child’s writing-desk And passionate cold feet Summoning music of the night; tumbrils, gongs And gamelans; with one neat pen, one candle Puttering its life out hour by hour. Is “Tell Him I love him” […]
Icicles round a Tree in Dumfriesshire by Ruth Padel
Icicles round a Tree in Dumfriesshire by Ruth Padel We’re talking different kinds of vulnerability here. These icicles aren’t going to last for ever Suspended in the ultra violet rays of a Dumfries sun. But here they hang, a frozen whirligig of lightning, And the famous American sculptor Who scrambles the world with his tripod […]
Pan’s Lament by Rose Mary Boehm
Grandmothers wore sadness wrapped in black. Pan’s duduk no longer moved their feet in dance. The young wore rape and shame like the end of a world where their lives had been broken. Sons and lovers, husbands and brothers, their blood running over the heavy stones of betrayal. When I left my Armenia and my […]
On The Menu by Graham Rowlands
I’ll eat anything. I mean it. But don’t say you won’t have lunch with me. I won’t drink the soup. I’ll even try your wine in case someone’s trying to poison you— or us. Still, I warn you I’ve eaten an evolution of white bait oysters, prawns in their shells baby octopuses, squid, shark. I’d […]
Night by Ruth Padel
Night by Ruth Padel Then spoke the thunder, shattering the looming blackness of our national life. The rumble that breaks a spell of the dry season – Saro-Wiwa, “The Storm Breaks” Does a zebra foal dream? Head lower, lower under lenticular dark cloud, he drags harlequin fetlocks, porcelain quails’ egg hooflets through pimpling dust, slower, […]
Nanna by Ross D Tyler
Does your Nanna visit you? Is she old and pleasant? Does she bake you cakes and treats? Or bring you lots of presents? My Nanna’s slightly different, For although she gives me Prezzies, Most of her gifts are usually awful, Last visit she brought me wellies! The time before that a tanktop, I’ve had socks […]
My Views of Man by Ronald G. Auguste
My Views of Man RGAaPoet@aol.com (For All the Rulers on this Earth) Man is the lowest form of life on Earth! Man frequently is mindless – Vile from birth! Man treats Man’s kind worse than the lower forms. Man’s ruthless traits have all become Man’s norms. Man’s now … despite Man’s deeds … of little […]
Multi-Miners & Co. Present Ned Kelly by Graham Rowlands
Multi-Miners & Co. present Ned Kelly as they’ll bring you the world’s end unearthing the end of the world without knowing where to bury it—ah inside glass, is it? like Ned Kelly & Co. panning & sluicing for gold tailings— that’s mining & the iron plough softening in orange wood coals & nailed & shaped […]
Miss Worthington by Rose Mary Boehm
I saw her one last time.Erect and hating her condition,she rolled her chair a little moretowards the windows of her winter garden:“The elms will have to go, you know.The elms are sick… “I climbed them as a child.” There was that catch of hidden sadness.Her voice had lost its edge. Miss Worthington had stayed alonefrom […]
Meant To Be by Russ Pergram
If I believed in reincarnation…I most certainly would say.You and I were lovers…in another time, another day.How else can one explain it?…this connection ‘tween me and you.Love’s never ceasing expectation…in such angelic eyes of blue.There is something between us…neither can adequately explain.Yet, something that’s reassuring…love’s never in vain.And that is why I always…ask to look […]
May You Be Like An Evergreen by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Byron Auguste, my Son) You are the elder from my seed. Well nurtured, may you bloom and grow, Above the bramble and the weed – And may you bend when strong winds blow. May all your branches know the sun, And may your leaves be always bright, Yet always green, with veins that run […]
Marks Of Disrespect by Graham Rowlands
It’s a tragedy for the Empire, almost said Mrs Thatcher. Mrs Gandhi was a woman of great courage, Mrs Thatcher almost didn’t say, thinking how she was a woman of great courage too—although now she’d transfer even her Northern Irish bodyguards. Could she be deeply shocked yet again— looking & sounding so unshocked, unshockable you […]