Tuesday 20 June 2023

Poems of love

chainwriting poems these days

lighting them off from

the smoulders of the last

like cigarettes

                        not even

blank-paging them but

firing them bukowski-style


the man would probably say

“as long as they come

bursting keep them burning”


downing poems

like glasses of whisky

for when passably drunk

time gets lost but still

flaking metaphors

with the fingertips 

rolling them up in paper

expertly adding a bit of spit

to hold it up together


keep the hunger sharp

I say

         like a murmuration

of starlings splitting into

chaos because a kestrel

decided to feed


but then in the midst of dark

comes the spite of love

almost invited

                        slings and arrows

                        songs and marrow

unhooking its barbs

caught in the heart


and it’s bloody painful

you know

                so we hope to drown

in booze, smoke and solitude

but we know it’s not enough

it never is

                until we plead

love please leave me be

leave me alone now

you’ve taken enough from me

I have nothing left

not even the dignity

to cry soberly over my drinks


love you know

I never learn

you know I’m an idiot

with far too big a heart

not to be swindled

like a tourist

                    I never learn

always fall flat on my back

winded and despondent

saying never again


but then I forget and then

I think a bit of love can’t hurt

turns out it does

even the tiniest fraction

and nothing, nothing

abates the pain

                         believe me I’ve tried

meds, whisky, cigs

only the poems cool the fire

only they provide

                            a measure of quietude

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