why does one man
strive for humour
to gift essential laughter,
peace
harmony and happiness
while his brother
takes a gun
and attacks our complexity

no joke

somewhere
the laughter has subsided,
the barbs removed
from the hooks
and the voices, quietened,
while the spoken word,
is sweeter
and the love,
ongoing and genuine –

somewhere,
though not here
and,
not today

Published by Friendly Street in ‘New Poets 19’ 2018

i feel targeted again
today -
reticent,
lethargic,
psychologically pained,
unpurposeful and,
alone:

i’ve never enjoyed shopping here

i’m in southern cross emptiness
late night Melbourne
where stationed platforms
in trained readiness
harbour more red
than the quality control lab
at Bosch industrial
reflecting reveller travel
to the suburbs and beyond
while only the pigeons
come and go as they please

i want to be
stick shift
fuelled up
top gear
high octane
full speed

i don’t need to be
a car crash

evocative torque
that’s my dream.


Published by “Underground Writers” in Issue #27 ‘Case’ (Aug 2019)

http://underground-writers.org/product/issue-27-case/

cosmetic surgery
has gained in popularity
and reasonably so
given disfigurement
but i’m wanting
my social conscience relaxed,
my pleasure centre augmented
and my injustice receptors
adjusted
enhancing the disregard override

i expect the right side of politics
could legislate
to endorse this procedure

http://www.glass-poetry.com/poets-resist/aitken-plastic.html