Age

Young men become old men

beautiful women decay.

After 25 life slips away

tick tock, tick tock, tick…

Anorexia

Belinda Houghton

you sad thing

now that you are slim.

Running, running, all the time

even with your body

in decline.

You must get fit, you say,

you must get thin

you need help, I say, to win

We All Presume To Live Until We Are Old

Another school buddy dies,

I still remember Russell’s dark, dark eyes.

Another face on the school photo with a cross,

adding to our generation's loss.

Halfway through our lives

we thought we'd all survive.

So full of life,

we thought we'd never die.

Apparently, all a lie.

I Can Waste Time at the Speed of Light

I so love to piss around,

I might as well hold my dick

permanently in my hand

Religion

Flat-earth truths

Punching way above their weight

Somehow are sacred

The Methadone Pack

I walked passed the closed Carlton chemist

at 11.06 on a sunny Sunday on my morning walk.

There was a pack of methadone junkies waiting at the door for their hit,

standing around in all their toothless decrepitude.

Short and fat, tall and thin, chewing, twitching, vacant, disheveled, still,

sunken lined-faces, missing teeth, track suits, crooked smiles, bare feet,

like milk cows waiting at the dairy doors,

we pretend not to see.

Office Politics

After you have said good morning

to your work colleagues

you must engage some more

before you go quiet and tune the world out

otherwise social convention breaks down,

apparently. 

Mrs Penny

My childhood neighbour,

Coral Penny,

with her citrus kaftans billowing

would chase us away

from her prize winning garden

with the attitude

of a champion harridan cursing

from her door to the fence

from where we would

have long since departed

running off down the street.

Joy Divine

Joy Divine

smokes 100 a day

drinks a box of wine

curses like the devil

and spits on the ground.

She is never nice

to be around.

She'll give you a look,

up and down

if she thinks you are 

taking the piss

she'll cut you and frown.

 

100 is the New 80

You will live until you are 100,

they say.

So you will work until you are 70,

they say.

It will still be a sign of the under achievers,

I say.

The working class, to the bitter end.

The poor, the rich,

the great divide.

The disenfranchised, the unlucky

work until you die.

Neoliberalism

It's a sad indictment

on modern society

that financial advisors

need legislation

to stop them cheating

their customers.

Power companies,

telcos,

credit companies

car salesmen

real estate agents

and marketers too.

To name just a few.

Epidemic of Sorry

Sorry they say

as the lift doors open.

Sorry they say

as they pass in the street.

Sorry they say

when they have spoken.

Sorry they say

when their gazes meet.

Sorry they say

quite automatically,

so spontaneously,

when they drink tea,

even when they breath.

Soon they’ll say

sorry as they greet.

Everybody is sorry

in the 21st century,

everybody is sorry

it would seem.

 

Belief

Theology College,

esteemed institutions,

halls of learning

dedicated to studying

flat-earth truths,

dedicated to studying

the theory of metaphor,

dedicated to studying

nothing real at all

Dedication

It is all good

I got into law at uni

I'm going to be rich

 

Happy Friday 13th

May a black cat cross your path

and may you not drop down dead.

May a ladder walk under you

and may you not fall on its head.

Strange Thoughts

Do you ever see a torn aluminium can in the street

wondering what it would feel like

running your finger along the sharp edge?

Do you wonder how deep the flesh would cut?

The amount of blood spilled?

The sting?

Do you ever blush at such thoughts?

Motherly Love

You lay in bed awake, waiting.

Eventually, you could hear my sports car

coming from a distance.

You say, you’d fall asleep, satisfied

before I got to the front door.

Most accidents happen 1k from home.

HR Professional

How many times have I heard HR

explain a wage freeze sincerely,

while at exactly the same time

their wages were being adjusted for CPI.

Irony, is seldom

an HR professional’s gift.

Not That into You

You'll do

for this moment,

but you're not a keeper

so don't expect it.

 

The Truth

Not everyone can see it.

Everyone will be blind some of the time,

some will never see,

some won’t see due to their beliefs,

some can’t, because they can’t,

some don’t because it doesn’t suit,

some wilfully stand firm.

The truth, it’s absurd.

Waiting

He should be home by now.

It is getting dark,

the roads are wet,

he is over due,

not a word.

Why hasn’t he called?

The rain falls menacingly,

tap, tap, tap.

Every noise,

makes you jump

makes your hand shake

makes your heart skip.

You are being silly

you know that.

The doorbell rings.

She's Leaving

Turn and walk away

don't look back or you'll blow it

you know that.

Let the promise

of happiness

take you by the hand.

By Definition

Islam, man?

The moderates denounce the violence,

the militants say they are doing Mohammad's work.

On this they disagree.

But they both know Allah is supreme,

so how could the hate

not be his work.

Regret

It is so true,

it is not the things I do that I regret,

it is the things that I don’t do

that cause me pain.

Be brave.

You have a lot to lose.

 

Why?

Some people box

some people fly

some people fall down and die

we don't know why?

 

God

I only see God

when a black woman sings.

Eagles soar effortlessly.

 

Addiction

There is no such thing as addiction,

just unchecked behaviour

and excuses not to change.