"this is sixth form poetry, not Keats or Yeats"
After the accident the forest returned, blanketing forsaken machinery in a gentle, unfamiliar embrace. Stacks of contaminated televisions lie in heaps, repurposed as shelters for the returning fauna. Computer screens that once glimmered with potency now lie abandoned, tainted by a film of excrement, and something that we mustn’t name. …
You glide across your silky precipice, Enticed by spasms at the edges of your kingdom; You see nothing, Just a loose thread caught in the wind. Suddenly, movement – You do not sense the vibrations Beneath your feet, But from the air above. A shadow falls across your web as …
Sailing swiftly along the salted seashore, Your whiteish throat flanks brown streaks That accentuate comedic orange brows. Amongst saline marshes and sunken reeds You build your nests in tall grasses, Limited by any stable support to protect Our token gesture of ‘high concern’; Your whispery, wheezy song a knowing nod …
Your recent absences have become More pronounced; The late spring evenings are no longer Alive with the industry of your approach, And the flowers in the hanging baskets On the high street fidget with uncertainty. We know that something is wrong, and So we call a meeting in the public …
On the night that Titus fell His night nest was not empty, Not empty, but silent. His body still warm, Still warm to receive The procession of still warmer bodies Come to bear witness to what had Fallen. First comes Umushikirano, He beats his chest and begins to Shake …
Once they roamed across the plains like gods, Their gigantic frames drowning out the sun As they paraded in quiet contemplation. Jealous of their size and serenity We hunted them to the brink of extinction, Turning their beautiful pearly whites into Piano keys, billiard balls, and minor objects of decorative …
As distant rumblings pierce pastoral air, Each roaming frog recoils without a bound; Mechanical vibrations beat the ground, And conjure up strange feelings of despair. These noises that have caught them unaware, Combine to disconcert and to confound; As distant rumblings pierce pastoral air, Each roaming frog recoils without …
With lines on maps too hard to see, Some call for less transparency; The nightmares of an orange clown, As walls go up the life goes down. Our sisters, brothers, foes, and friends, Will not escape this ethnic cleanse; There’ll just be ghosts, no border town, As walls go …
Amongst the blue-eyed leaves you made your beds, Conflicting patterns sailing on the breeze; Then weeds appeared with green and narrow heads, A nursery that couldn’t help but please. You left behind the flowers of your youth, And focused all your growth on this new truth; So when this …
Across the vibrant reefs you snake and crawl, In search of shelter from an unseen threat; The shadows write their names in salty scrawl, Your body intertwined in blind duet. You see the world without a lens or eye, As veiled photoreceptors help you scry; Your skin a dense …