Ambition
bobs along
like a bottle
floating on the
waves, up and
down, each
trough adding
a splash of
water to the
bottle until it
sinks.
Category: poetry
Once more unto
Just when you think
ambition is
in remission
it jumps out
with no warning
and cries “new
Publisher”, “new
edition”, and the
old hopes
emerge from
their hiding place
in the bone
marrow and
turn your life
upside down.
Pastoral
“Listen to those
contented cows
mooing. Oh I love
the sounds of
the country” they
say as they drive
past a black herd
in a green field.
Not seeing,
on the other
side of the road,
black calves,
separated
just last night
from their mothers.
Who are crying
in pain and fear
trying to get
their babies back.
Sensing that their
future lies in
a terrifying
truck journey
and then the
cutting of throats.
Vale of the white horse
The white horse
on the far
green hill
moves all day
to a rhythm
all her own,
following
clues in the
pasture and
the hill shape
and the changing
shadows from
the trees,
and some days,
for no reason
I know, he
doesn’t
appear at all,
and I hope
she is all right.
He has no
interest
in my rhythms.
Look through any window
Whether I am
seven and
a half or
seventy
five, the I
who looks out
of my window
is the same I,
no matter how
he appears to
those looking in.
Brave new world
If you think after
Coronavirus,
corporations
will stop
exploiting
workers,
will stop
trashing
the world,
will stop
supporting
wars,
will stop
buying
elections,
will start
paying
taxes,
you’re living
in a parallel
universe.
We are all Pythagoreans
Have I gone through
more than
half a century
with “the square on
the hypotenuse
of a right-angled
triangle is
equal to the sum
of the squares
on the other
two sides” stuck
in my brain?
Has the whole
human race gone
through twenty five
centuries
sharing the same
ear worm?
You must remember this
Sometimes I
meet someone
from my past
who tells me
something I didn’t
know about
a common friend,
or enemy,
or event,
that completely
alters my
memory of
that person
or history.
Are all of
my memories
fungible?
Stupid is as
No one I ever
met, in the course
of my long life,
was as stupid
as Donald Trump,
and believe me
there were some
strong contenders.
End times capitalism
If the world
was about to
be hit by a
giant asteroid,
which would
smash the planet
into pieces,
destroying all life
except
tardigrades,
there would be
people selling
tickets for the
best vantage point
from where to
see it coming.
