A foot upon which to pivot
At worst should warrant your best
And if the shoe won’t fit in fairness
Then you’ve only your trainer to blame

A man of years should see to it
The prevailing angle from his hind
Must assist in the furthering, no doubt of it
Of his worse foot to be fitly made

The worser foot to meet by half
Of the one in favour having seen
Much advancement by the tripping step
Ought to be assisted, with patience met

A worthy man it would become
Him who plays off his bad foot well
Ambidexterity, and a reel of angles unbeknownst 
Should place him neath any good man’s guard

So I’ll see you in the field m’lad
Or perhaps on the canvas truth be known
And you would be ready and best prepared 
For the unlikely fella who sees it rare

If you should win against me once
My respect you will find a fellow fine
Let me conquer you twice times over
It’s my regard you’ll be chasing mind

——-(-;-;-)@(£;)3):&33&)/(2;;———1

It all soon seems like nothing
Your efforts a sad lament
Quickened to it in the moment
Robbed the meaning in greed

But any good labour will find its price
And it’s not for us to know the good done
A blessing or two is yours mind you
In Meryl’s words: it’s a hell of a vice

————:;(((&;))(:):);;£;);)3—————-

Fuck this plastic sandwich

And the plastic bastards

Who sanctioned its existence

————-;&:):)::):!;&(£:)/):—————111

There’s a bluffing statistician 
Eating walnuts in the hall
Waiting for an apparition 
Pasty-faced to call

He calls by intuition
And mourns his nation’s loss
While grinning fools drink up their fill
Matched well at pitch and toss

The way the papers paint it
You’d think it oh so true
That the fiction they depicted
Would birth a boy named Sue 

And though they studied
All their days and
Breached fraternal law

Again the friend
Who bending lends
Seen past all that they saw

Unseen it gleams and machines reams
It feeds on foolish love
These number men go numb again
And look to God above

Any poet that wrote his quota
Went his own way see
The only consolation due
Is what you paid to see

Byron knew a thing or two 
His buckled foot would not undo 
That rarer knowing if only you
Could know the cost of making do

Jealousy we ease in jest
Ahead of our own betterment
Go meet the darkened broken man
And share your part in this here plan

—————-:£::&:£:):(:(:):):£:);£;£!,!,!3—-

In the silence easy
You laid me down
Kis-sed my eyes 
Sent me blessings

It’s true I found you
At the far side of the ocean
And dreamed your being
From sketches you made

In another land
Where we bled the phase
And roamed so lonely
In gardens wet with winter rain

————-:::&:£:):):):)::;£/(:);&(&(£;)::):;——-/

Yonder calling out your name
In the firing sun that lit our gloom 
Homeward going sailors pecked the hill
And I embraced your countenance divine

It was all I could do to be for you
In that embrace you met me fierce
Bliss bled from the poppies surrounding
And salved the summer sweet knots’ pain

I write to you still and turn
As your flesh beckons blushed enchanted
I heard those whispers through the night
And paused to brace this interlude

————;&;£;):)/:):):):£:£&:£:£———-

Your crown aglow along the lane
Teased embers and the tidings breezed our bones
Your sweet structure crushed against me, though cushioned
Inspired that brush with lips so thrilling

The sweetness of just ripe berries
Are but a breath of your fragrant pipping scent
And so the bottling has begun in earnest
Since battles fierce were won for this

————;;&:):):(:):£;£3!,?:):———-

Crippled stripling makes it way chirping
Among its familiars who hop in their fashion
Nimble lanes call on twists particular
As if a lane could ever hop you up it

Diving beaked-things dart and it’s tragic
Enough to smile upon the smoking gatehouse
Remark to oneself the peculiarities 
For the crippled are geared-up as such

Infant freely flies free of fear in fact
And look there at those young becoming men
They could learn a thing you’d think at once
Simply smiling sensible parent. Fly on

————-::&:£;);)::::£;););£££!??————

I have a friend who’s fond of plants
He’s an infuriating expert to be exact
I don’t begrudge him the mastery in any case
It’s that he has remedies for the ticking of a clock 

Or the untying of a shoelace when you’re on the bloody glider
His poems are very nice, you’d like them
He’s quite insane I know 
Might have something to do with us getting along

———-£:):(:!.?.?):):&:):):)———-

Rub your thumb along
The edge of this here knife
It’s been dubbed the dagger of spoof

It came with this here costume
And it’s no good for cutting cheese

And here look at this wee glass
This is for spitting tobacco in

I sell it back to the shops
As like a wire wool substitute 

The wee Chinese woman and me
Get on great 

For all I know
She’s plotting to murder me

You see why they don’t let me out?

—————-;;;(()£££)((;;;:::—————-

There was a time
When the sight of a child
With half the bread of bag
Was as common as the dustmen

Apparently though
A duck died, or swole up
Something ridiculous
And they’re scaling the whole thing back

You’d be warned off
Climbing a tree
Or picking up a wad
Of pre-chewed, trod on gum

Out the back
Was the greatest 
Playground of all
But they’ve closed that now

————):(:(:£:£:£:):):):)—————

At peace I sit and pray a bit at nobody in particular
What you’d call strays suggested themselves sometimes as impulse
And were duly disregarded as they strayed again hungrily from my doors

Is it possible that a man like me should inhabit a horse in daring?
I’ve to go racing now over these hills so to honour this gentle spirit
I’ll waken again in Belfast rain and you’ll be none the wiser

———;£;:);;&;£:):):):!,?:):———

Walked in the steps of a smacked up addict
Through peaceful terraced rows
Saw a nurse and came to know
Myself just then as a seasoned alco 

With matching feet for to shuffle with
I shuffled furious at first then calm
The vehicle I had taken had only one speed
I didn’t know what way to look

But grimaced after a mean faced uncle
Course I’ve to relate it all a la cowboy
Only cause the truth of it would’ve broke your heart 

——-;;£:):?,!.!,£:):):————-

Looking back
The fact that I’d been made to bend over
Only to find
That the dead on doctor was wearing converse

At the time I thought him very unprofessional 
My conception of the word was at that time probably up for abortion

Looking back yeah
He was a hip old guy
Don’t let the white coat fool you
That’s all I’m saying

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