The Power of Poetry
with things falling apart
and anarchy let loose,
it was only poetry, he found,
which had any use,
so he reached for his copy
of The Complete Works of Yeats
and bludgeoned the President
of the United States
Month: January 2026
New year, same me
Selected poemsMy Year in Diets
Veganuary
Fibreuary
Starch
Cakepril
MaycaroniCheese
June&tonic
Julicecream
Augustickytoffeepudding
Septembeer
Octoblerone
Doughvember
Decemburger
Poem concerning a new year dilemma
Selected poemsMy Unbearable Politeness of Being
It’s the same dilemma
every year, I find,
upon meeting a person
for the first time,
for how long
does wishing them
a Happy New Year
remain de rigueur?
Perhaps I blow things
out of proportion
but I tend to err
on the side of caution
so I’ve always
Happy New Year-ed
until October the Third.
Poem which takes the form of a prayer
Selected poemsPrayer for Uninteresting Times
Send me a slow news day,
a quiet, subdued day,
in which nothing much happens of note,
save for the passing of time,
the consumption of wine,
and a re-run of Murder, She Wrote.
Grant me a no news day,
a spare-me-your-views day,
in which nothing much happens at all,
except a few hours together
some regional weather,
a day we can barely recall.
Poem for anyone going back to work today
Selected poemsNew Year Office Chitchat
How was your Christmas?
you ask
and I think of
the bloodstained rug
and the silent scraping
of the spade
in the garden
at midnight
and the wash wash
washing of my hands
and the dreams,
those endless dreams
which haunt
the night-time
and smudge
their thumbprints
on the day
to come
and I reply
Super, thanks. Yours?
Poem with a subliminal message …
Selected poemsResolution
Having failed to keep
A new year’s resolution for
Pretty much ever, this year I resolve to
Play it safe. The trick is to know
Your limits. Keep it simple.
Now what I resolve to do is to
Eschew a poetic form. Abstain from
Writing an acrostic for a whole
Year. A resolution, I think,
Easily done. Eminently achievable.
A piece of cake. Oh,
Rats.
