See how those cranes fly arcing through the sky! The clouds they have for company on their way Were there already when they had to fly From one life to another far away. Together at the selfsame height and pace It seems an almost casual display. That crane and cloud just chance to share the […]

He was easy to get. It was possible on the second evening. I waited till the third (and knew I was taking a risk). Then he said, laughing: it’s the bath salts Not your hair. But he was easy to get. For a month I left him straight after making love. Every third day I […]

The young man has finished his lunch and is picking his teeth behind his hand. The bird scratches in the cage, showering him with canary seed and bird droppings. I consider picking one’s teeth unsightly; he only went to primary school and his bad grammar grates on me. But he’s got a man’s rump so […]

The boy gives back the mango at the till too dear He hasn’t got enough to pay for it no way He didn’t sweat enough his cash-flow has run dry His euros hours of work are not enough he hasn’t won The jackpot yet his eyes are black his eyebrows frown With worry skin like […]

in his laughter your face, precise and near, echoes and returns smaller: your grandson laughed, father I cannot lose sight of you     I lose it I want to speak of you    I hear myself not the track not the path narrower higher through something right behind you that rises    re    […]

Poets love cats of course The gentle free who cannot be controlled Who sleep and dream November rain away On silk chairs or in rags speak back Without saying a word shake themselves And get on with their lives Behind the hunter’s fence While his possessed neighbours Are still noting down licence plates The one […]