What’s in a gift I ask of you? Over my life I’ve received a few But none to match my five year old joy At receiving a gift from a miner’s boy Of a brown lead cow with a leg short of four  Which I carefully placed in my secret drawer From then until now… Know More

“Don’t visit my grave,” you said “It’s an empty shell,” But I lay purple petals on the earth Defying you with a spell For though you were right you weren’t to know That I need a certain place  Where memories may come and go  And looking down on my small bouquet They form a mandala,… Know More

The family sits separate around the tree Among wrapped gifts tied in ribbonry Carols on the telly and turkey on a spit Sweets being chewed, mobiles all lit Cars outside under fairy lights Hanging from trees and eaves through the night Under floor heating at 30 degrees Tee shirts with logos and neatly pressed jeans… Know More

One day when I was six or seven And doubted there might be a heaven A place with angels and a bearded God Who ruled the Earth with his lightning rod Well, on that day, I had to pee And Mrs Drummond let me be So out I went into the yard Where urinals waited,… Know More

Stop the world I want to get off For I hear my father in my cough My life was carved in words now worn On the altar stone when I was born Stop the world enough’s enough Of collecting all this material stuff That builds around me like a tomb And turns the sunlight into… Know More

This morning I woke up in my secret lover’s bedI woke up in a cold sweat in my lover’s bedI‘d just had a nightmare that filled me full of dread I was dead in a coffin made from the willow treeI was dead in a coffin made from the willow treeAnd my eyes were open… Know More

She works as a hotel cleaning maidFor a nasty boss who’s rich and meanThe pay just covers living costs With a bit left over for her laptop screen Her day is harsh and tediousBut every night she feasts her eyesOn games where she can be the oneTo take out all the evil guys She dons a… Know More

Governments come and governments go Jumped up puppets in a show National boundaries soft as chalk Sovereignty is empty talk There are those beyond the public gaze Who know no laws and shape our days We think we are autonomous No-one else is quite like us But we’re controlled by unseen forces And follow pre-determined… Know More

There is nothing here left of you To show that you once passed through Nothing to show we shared time No evidence of a crime No prints where your hands used to touch No smudges on the rims of cups No texts on my mobile phone No photo I might want to own You’re a… Know More