Methods of Dissent 2 (1997)

Infantile I feel, unpleasant at best,

infernal, unreal, and yearning for rest.

With a spine cracked and bent

from this smalltown lament,

eternally reeling, impistry repressed.

Methods of Dissent – the truth at last and easy (2000)

Words, when uttered, lose their power, and mysteries shared are demeaned when inked for all to see.

Stay silent, lock eyes, and smile in the deceit that you know of the same fashionable fantasy,

for language is the last refuge of a gloom-groping man

whose imagination has failed him utterly.

Four Years (1996)

An affliction, this affection.

We bite and scratch from the inside out.

Every sinew, every synapse craves a partner,

Then another.

Years roll by so swiftly

But tears follow you forever.

Season’s Greetings

Who’s happy today?

I am.

Look, I am smiling and can say

YIPEEEEEEE

Why?

Well, because December is a season to celebrate.

All

Around

The

World

December 8 is Bodhi Day,

That remembers Buddah meditating.

We can learn more about that in books and online!

Hannukah is a festival of lights

A special Jewish holiday!

What can we learn about that?

A very old festival is called Yule

Maybe you know that word already.

It is celebrated with singing and food,

A 12 day festival in December.

Christmas happens, too, we know,

At the same time of year. There’s food, and singing,

Family, too, and gifts and a baby Jesus.

Kwanzaa, that’s another one,

A great celebration of African culture,

The name means ‘first fruits of the harvest’

And cheering and happiness too.

Dongzhi Festival’s something you can see in China,

Japan, Korea, Vietnam too

It marks the winter solstice

As many people also do – what date is that this year I wonder?

For the Zuni and Hopi there’s Soyal on that date,

Bringing the sun back awake from his sleep.

It marks another wheel of the year,

Purification and blessings.

Pancha Gapati honours Lord Ganesha,

Who is important to Hindu friends.

Five days of blessings and love and hope.

Maybe we can learn more here too.

Everyone is happy

At this time of year,

Giving thanks and helping each other out,

Remembering those who have come before,

And looking forward to many more times

With family, friends

People we meet

All

Around

The

World

YIPPEEEEEEEEEE

Cyfleuon hyll (2013)

Dwi wedi methu fy hun

Neu

Golliad

Colli fy hun?

Hunllef?

Na.

Dwi eisiau anghofio

Ail-creu

Ail-credu.

Unigrwydd o gofiadau fer

Hyll

Sdim ots

I still get a shudder when I walk past

Undercover. I suppose.

Just Me. Farrar Road.

Ay. Well.

They killed it.

But here and there you can see them.

Tiny crush barriers. Growing.

From the ground.

From The Ground.

As da price of commerce.

Pitch markings now marked down peaches.

Two-one now two for one..

Penalty box now cornflake box.

Red cards now loyalty cards.

Sent off for savings.

Gave 110% guvnor for a 10% discount.

Students mill about the place picking up

Pizzas for a pound.

So; and so what?

I shiver.

I smile.

I check the bargains aisle at the St. Paul’s End.

It’s a bit too far out for a free kick.

But.

Nobody’s looking.

One last chance?

There’s always a last chance.

And, then:

I check for green shirted referees.

None are watching.

Somehow a marked down orange

Accidentally falls out my hand.

And I volley it toward the defensive wall

Of 49p loaves.

It goes wide.

Felly, a felly.

Ail-symudiad;

Ail-creu. Ail-credu?

Na, dwi ddim yn meddwl

fod hyn yn teimlo’n iawn

Dwi ddim yn deimlo.

Iawn.

A ble mae’r iechyd? Lle mae’r fywyd wedi fod?

Sdim ots rili lle fydd bywyd mynd.

Sdim ots pam neu pryd.

Fydd y byd dal yn ddawnsio I rhai ohonym ni.

I mi? Chdi? Be di gwahaniaeth eniwe?

Anghofiadwy.

Am pob o rhesymau od

Rong

neu

Hyll

‘na.

Na.

Dim colliad, ond

Yn siml: methu

Gyfleuon.

Ag yn y ddiwedd faswn I eisiau dim ond un cwestiwn bach arall:

Enwogion?

O, pwy?

Waffles

There’s a country called Holland.

Stop this poem and find it on a map.

…

…

…

…

…

Ah hello, I see you are back.

It’s also called the Netherlands.

Next door there is a place called Belgium.

Stop again and find that place.

…

…

…

…

…

Did you find Belgium? That’s ace!

It’s small too, but important.

Because here in this area

Almost a thousand years ago

Was invented a delicious food

Called the waffle, yeah!

The word wafel was originally Dutch

Because they have their own language

It is a big advantage

To speak it, oh, so much.

In English, we call it a waffle

It is of course a kind of dough

Cooked in a special waffle iron, you know.

You can eat it with sliced apple

Or butter, or chocolate, or fruit

Whatever flavour that suits you, man

Maple syrup, cream, honey, jam

Whatever things you like to chew

If we may stop one last time, we

Can find California on a map

…

…

…

…

…

Aha you have returned, come back

All this running is making me hungry.

Swimming

I read in a book, a book I trust,

That every single one of us

Me, you, the teacher too,

The man down the road who is eating some stew,

We all are 50 per cent water.

Not to say, to say a lie,

It doesn’t mean that you and I

Splash, walk, splosh and talk,

But that all of our cells, skin, heart and all,

Are made, in part, of moisture.

So, let’s think, think of a way

To cool down on a summer’s day

Hey, yo, why don’t we go

To a swimming pool, sometimes called a Lido

And front crawl through the water?

Which strokes, strokes to swim

Do we know, what do we think?

Doggy paddle, breaststroke, back,

Butterfly and more - just depends what

Way we want to float-a.

And in LA, LA has beaches

Perched upon an ocean that reaches

All the way to Japan! Hey

I guess it would be best

Not to swim all that way, instead

Just to enjoy the water.

We can learn, learn to swim

And sometimes use our water wings

It’s fun, and healthy, that’s for sure

I wonder if that’s all because

We’re all half made of water?