Thursday, 10 April 2014

Epic April 10th NaPoWriMo Fail

In desperation, and with a whole lot of help from my - errr, friends? - I bring you the epic April 10th NaPoWriMo fail:

#1 (Please use Canadian accent)

There once was an old man from Cambridge,
Who knew a sweet tweeter with cleavage
He had a face like an otter,
She could swim underwater,
Ducking ducks together they played quidditch...

#2 (Please use a very, very bad urban youf accent)

Cambridge,
Like a fridge,
Where you play quidditch,
It is quite rich,
It aint Stourbridge,
Not a ditch,
I aint no snitch,
But it aint got no urban rhythm!


Wednesday, 9 April 2014

NaPoWriMo, April 9th; Not The Whole Poem

NaPoWriMo, April 9th

Not The Whole Poem


You could be in a desert
With shimmering second sight
Salted sea to the North and
Crusted, white sand to the East, and
Flowering fig trees to the South, and
Bowers of roses to the West.

But they only have bowers of roses in poems.

I could be in a fool's paradise
With mist covering my eyes, and
Monkey's fingers in my ears, and
My lips sewed tight with butcher's string, and
Rose thorns in my fleshy hide.

But they don't beat hides with thorns in poems.


Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Ode to Bacon, NaPoWriMo April 8th

Ode to Bacon

My blood sings, as it passes through my veins,
Of empty mitochondria and lack
Of care and comfort, so vicious it pains
The delicate homeostatic plaque
Decorating arteries' finest walls
And hunger wails its divine truthful course 
Thundering, train-like, from stomach to brow
Descending again, fast as water falls.
Granulated hiccoughs, coarse,
Excruciating rumbles, announce how
Desperate a hunt is required through malls. 

'Feed me! Oh Mistress, take pity, I pray!'
What food can satisfy such pitiful 
Demand? Salty desire a dancing sway,
Phantom smokiness, tantalising full-
Tongued and satisfyingly delicious.
Meaty and pink-blushed, I follow the call
To the butcher's counter. Whereupon my
Eye discerns wonderful, meretricious,
The apple of lovers, all
Fatty and glistening, passive and - sigh -
Willing. Bacon, my intent's malicious.


Monday, 7 April 2014

NaPoWriMo April 7th, She Was Born


She was born on a mountainside

She was born on a mountainside,
The thirteenth child, bellowing her 
Presence to the rocks and goats. They
Tied her umbilical cord with 
Whatever nature laid to hand - 
Grass, or a vine, or her mother's 
Hair. Cut it with a stone. Quelled the 
Bleeding with ash and rags, and her
Cries with practised let down. Fifty 
Years later, bewildered in a
Heated classroom, she tells the tale
Of how her husband threatened to 
Kill her, just last night. Her legal
Aid doesn't cover the cost of
Good advice, and the police are
Only interested in crime.
We fill in the paperwork that
Will prove he did it, if he does,
And everyone tries to pretend
It never happened. But then there's 
Nigella Lawson in her posh
Frock, and she was born on no
Mountainside; if it could happen
To her... Then again, people say
Things all the time, and isn't it 
Easier not to get involved?
Mother mountain is half a world
And half a life away, and her 
Orphan children know their own way 
Home. There are no wild midwives here
In England's green and pleasant land.

Sunday, 6 April 2014

For my Husband on his Birthday, NaPoWriMo, April 6th

For my Husband on his Birthday, NaPoWriMo, April 6th

True love is commonplace.
It's in the paintings that 
grace the walls of caves, ships,
Chapels, turrets, in the
Whispers of underground
Bunkers, behind rustic
Shutters of isolated
Woodland cottages and
Fifty shades above street 
Level. Find love in the
Shape of lips, delicate,
Curving, lifting, pressing
Against, giving life to
Words that hold hearts dear. Hear
It in the music of
A washing line in the
Wind, a kettle's whistle,
A baby's wail, silenced
By a warm nipple in
A sleepy bed. Taste love
In birthday cake crumbles,
Chocolate kisses and
Spaghetti wishes, in
The damp spot behind an
Ear after bath time, and
On a finger-full of 
Raw, sweet dough. True love is
In the letterboxes
Living in the copper
Wires, echoing across slow 
Oceans, broadcasting in
Outer space. In poppy
Strewn mountains and shadowed,
Grassy valleys, in dank 
Marshes and knife-edged plains,
In sweaty ballrooms and
Resined studios, love 
Sweeps feet into air and
Air into life. Love's in
The future and the past,
Seek it hidden in the 
Present, wrapping itself
Everywhere infinite
In minds and under feet,
Through fingertips' soft
Grip on elbows, bent knees,
Delicious tickled toes.

While ours is as unique
As a combination
In a pack of playing
Cards fifty-two love deep.



Saturday, 5 April 2014

Monopoly, NaPoWriMo, April 5th

NaPoWriMo, April 5th

Monopoly

She skips barefoot and gentle
From King's Cross to Liverpool Street
Alone on her toes
Buying time
Mortgaging pieces of your soul
For imaginary facilities
Trading chance for electricity
Stripping community bare,
And you cling to your parking space,
Hoping for a double six.
So caught in her game, she doesn't know
You aren't an opponent
And in life,
There is no get out of 
Jail card -
Not one that's free,
Anyway.


Friday, 4 April 2014

Time and entropy are kissing cousins, NaPoWriMo April 4th

There are five minutes left of my  Eldest's 19th birthday - darnit, 4 minutes now...

Time and entropy are kissing cousins

Time and entropy are kissing cousins,
And their illicit tease is infinite
Scandalising the gossipy stars
While moons dance, hoping for more
In the way of a warm embrace
And meteorites may
While galaxies' might
Dwindles
To
A
Breath
Of
Promise
In
The
Void

But love is a gift
That holds its shape
Indefinitely
And faith is its
Fuel.