The Shallow End
I’ve put in my timedrinking brew and blowing bubbles in the echo-chamber.I’m now ready to stand with you allby the carouselas the plastic horses spit venom,wagering on which one of us will take itin the left eye.Smear it joylessly from my cheek, I would,then trample backstage and scream,“You all know this is the shallow end!” … Continue reading The Shallow End
NO SHOW LIKE A JOE SHOW
I hope you’re happy now, Joe Rogan – you’ve ruined Spotify for me. I was already on shaky ground with the feasibility of the whole ‘the entire library of Earth’s recorded music for a tenner a month’ thing, but Egad if you didn’t just go and make the whole enterprise seem filthier than putting your … Continue reading NO SHOW LIKE A JOE SHOW
Tom Petty And How To Live
Bob Dylan once said that you can listen to Woody Guthrie and learn how to live. The more time I spend on this insufferable planet of ours, the more convinced I am that you could say exactly the same thing about Tom Petty. Tom Petty has been in my life since I was about seven … Continue reading Tom Petty And How To Live
The Slow Walk To Self-Publishing
I started messing around with self-publishing during the first lockdown. I had been listening to a lot of podcasts about independent authors who publish all their own novels. They’re an intense bunch to say the least, but I wanted to try to put out a small collection of stuff, just to see how it all … Continue reading The Slow Walk To Self-Publishing
PETRARCHAN SONNET #1
If the world and I could accidentally harmoniseon a song that none among us knew,The only darkness here would be by the friends you weardown with the grinding chore of strict surprise.My kingdom for a messy night’s drink with the guysI’ve known since birth. And now that the home animals are fed,I’m writing for the … Continue reading PETRARCHAN SONNET #1
AM I SCREAMING INSIDE?
A short story about the dangers of song-writing. “There are two types of player, Shelves – there’s cooks, and there’s chefs.” I’m going to die tonight, I thought to myself. Here, on the windy back roads of Connemara, our rusted white steed whipping from bend to bend, the night like a pinball table with the … Continue reading AM I SCREAMING INSIDE?
THE MAP OF THE WILD HEART
The map of the wild heart won’t lead you to safety,it just points out the dark woods you move to avoid.You can still become stuck – I’ve taken note latelythat most who make it this far are not again found.It’s all just a document, a draft, an impression,enough hard facts for a start.I’ll meet you … Continue reading THE MAP OF THE WILD HEART
REMEMBER WHAT’S GONE
I pull my coat up, tight to the humthat your dizzying standards have laid at my door.It’s like grim weather, but sharper in toneand I’m caught in the eye of a living needle. I should have taken that flat behind the broken billboard,where a disembodied searchlight shone on the bedunslept in, while I wrote books … Continue reading REMEMBER WHAT’S GONE
MAKE MONSTERS SING
He kept a mental tally of systems and habits,new methods to prop on their feet each day.But the poor boy believed each thought opened up a new planet and he made me wait, sweating on the hospital step.His mind was a rack full of test-tubes that bubbled.I watched all those old films as a child … Continue reading MAKE MONSTERS SING
BACKYARD BLUES
Our back yard bleeds mystique into the evening’s collective memory.The deck has sat untouched since New Year’s Eve.Remember?We ran the cord of our cheap turntable through the open window?The sun set to ‘Eyelids Into Snow’and I hoarded the moment, like you accused me of. Our bookshelves too tight for collecting,you smiled and shook your head … Continue reading BACKYARD BLUES
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