Hear the Hush of the Axe Behind You
By JupiterMoon
A collection of older poems, some from the last few years, some older than that. Some are funny, some are sad, some odd, some beautiful, some just unsettling...
- Log in to post comments
- 1745 reads
without
without you catch her voice, whispering why within wild waves. your tie still worn black a year gone. each cigarette is seven minutes of forgetting, (or not remembering)
- Read more about without
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 936 reads
carryon
carryon crunching down on a meal of gravel, my teeth, red raw and shattered, bawl with enamel duress. as i choke on bloodied regret. the ground caught my cheek in awkward landing.
- Read more about carryon
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 704 reads
cortege
cortege like an eel, the cars crawl in a line over the curling russet cushioned carpet. shiny black metal polished with late afternoon sun, a solemn, sluggish pace set
- Read more about cortege
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 822 reads
margins
margins i am becoming like a series of pencil strokes; an addendum. squeezed in without thought whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. just a name, left to curl and fray
- Read more about margins
- Log in to post comments
- 511 reads
heart attack Friday
heart attack Friday something about the nearness of the weekend, moves the hearts of a certain kind of man to frenzied beating, squeezed in the grip of the fading glow of the week:
- Read more about heart attack Friday
- Log in to post comments
- 618 reads
the principal of one lost shoe
the principal of one lost shoe i have lost a good many things in my time: a key, money, good friends, a brown leather jacket, more money, poems on scraps of paper like this one,
- Read more about the principal of one lost shoe
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 1239 reads
farewell, old black settee
farewell, old black settee your leather had become tired, brought to ribbon corners by determined claws. we pushed you over, and turned away from your dusty belly.
- Read more about farewell, old black settee
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 881 reads
hundreds and thousands scattered like ashes
hundreds and thousands scattered like ashes the recipes remain, ingrained like folded away papery scars, or the memory of a wartime lover, felt over the lips like a ghost wind,
- Read more about hundreds and thousands scattered like ashes
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1212 reads
the wrong hands for the R.A.F.
the wrong hands for the R.A.F. during the festive crush of the rowdy season, i got to talking with a newborn pilot, who fresh from heavy correspondence, talked of jets, of choppers,
- Read more about the wrong hands for the R.A.F.
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 635 reads
ink black
ink black an ebony lacking in all possible reflection; limpid, mildewed blackness crushing forward, through a glassy introspection, solid, insurmountable
- Read more about ink black
- Log in to post comments
- 617 reads
there's few things more tragic than a wasted condom
there’s few things more tragic than a wasted condom deep in the night - somewhere around 4am, i crawl awkwardly from the bed. cold rubber against the sole of my foot,
- Read more about there's few things more tragic than a wasted condom
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1302 reads
Painting for Lemonade
painting for lemonade an ancient man, brittle on a wooden stool, slowly painting his gate-post. a day of raw sunshine, but autumn will soon roll over the horizon. by winter the
- Read more about Painting for Lemonade
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 823 reads
innocent wallpaper
innocent wallpaper through the wall, i can hear a family failing next door. a couple in the thirties, nearly, average intelligence. i think they drink. they stopped fighting
- Read more about innocent wallpaper
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 998 reads
sometimes i deserve a capital I
sometimes i deserve a capital I everyone loves a writer, loves to watch paper fill as a pencil moves in blurring. it’s a sub-conscious fascination. it’s why she smokes that way…
- Read more about sometimes i deserve a capital I
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 729 reads
Slow Measures
Slow measures ‘I’m dying on my fucking arse here!’
- Read more about Slow Measures
- Log in to post comments
- 617 reads
the woodwork mirror
the woodwork mirror an ill-bred design, assembled from comprehensive impatience: awkward geometry, and timber bruises of a badly managed sanding machine. triple angled plinth,
- Read more about the woodwork mirror
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 798 reads
snail
snail back curled and tourmaline. your infinite, soft stroked hatchings remind; bring forth whispered remnants, from another time. your dawn pavement, now faces an onslaught-
- Read more about snail
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 918 reads
let there be light
let there be light inside the mole dark, shivered like a slim fit bandage of blackest crepe, the rooms sink, slithering smaller and nearer and damper and colder and closer and then
- Read more about let there be light
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 939 reads
family photograph
family photograph it might never be better than this: the close shouldered assembly line smile, forced against a sea blue background. neither of you can work the camera.
- Read more about family photograph
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1171 reads
greenland
greenland and beneath me, you lay like a fingerprint jewel. a world of white dreams, clasped to a quiet pause. man has not touched you here. like a wish not yet whispered,
- Read more about greenland
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 772 reads
king for a day
king for a day there is a couple slurring their way toward the restroom. she has large golden breasts, swinging free of her crumpled dress. he has the slack-jawed grin,
- Read more about king for a day
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 944 reads
words make walls
words make walls they are married, i gather, and have met for breakfast coffee. he settles behind a Guardian, and a look of disgust. she fingers a croissant, trying to catch the eye
- Read more about words make walls
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 788 reads
two winged bugs connected by a sex act
two winged bugs connected by a sex act at first i thought it was shiny dirt, something caught by the sun round southwest of my hot coffee. so i brought my eyes closer,
- Read more about two winged bugs connected by a sex act
- Log in to post comments
- 522 reads
isn't anything
isn’t anything car scissors at the crossroads, have sheared the morning, from the end of night and the blue white ghost moon, heavy fogged and branch bound,
- Read more about isn't anything
- Log in to post comments
- 470 reads
Saturday night/Sunday Morning
Saturday night/Sunday morning dropped neon dragged behind traffic, as scratched letters bounce over the surface clinging now and then to lampposts trembling in the wind,
- Read more about Saturday night/Sunday Morning
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 987 reads
the lovers of Boulevard Saint-Germain
the lovers of Boulevard Saint-Germain there is permanence, woven into the way you hold one another; delicate, yet insistent, speaking of love found...
- Read more about the lovers of Boulevard Saint-Germain
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 595 reads
gulls over Paris
gulls over Paris church bells fall mute, having turned afternoon into evening, and in the fade of the peal, the cry of gulls, as they take to the sky...
- Read more about gulls over Paris
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1089 reads
birdman
birdman precarious, on dawn legs, sleep creaking like a jetty, you lean from your kitchen window, with that stoic determination that comes with age...
- Read more about birdman
- Log in to post comments
- 421 reads
you can't just leave a noose lying around
you can’t just leave a noose lying around just inches away from the pavement, separated by a thinning, late summer hedge, a rope hangs bright,...
- Read more about you can't just leave a noose lying around
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 609 reads
sola
sola each of us, sat alone in shivering boxes, made less fatal with predictable wall art; dented trinkets of teenage hope. sun-faded photos of...
- Read more about sola
- Log in to post comments
- 430 reads
plateau
plateau the only possessions shown in your bedroom window is a collection of thirteen paperbacks. from here, it is not possible for me to know what...
- Read more about plateau
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 655 reads
handholds
handholds when you left, all redundant cooking and trembling tears, my future got mixed up in your hurried carrier bags; mislaid within your shampoo...
- Read more about handholds
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1603 reads
for the drunks, the try-hards and the pessimists.
for the drunks, the try-hards and the pessimists unconnected voices, clamouring around a table like well echoes, people crying for help; unheard. all...
- Read more about for the drunks, the try-hards and the pessimists.
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 580 reads
tip and tilt to the sun
tip and tilt to the sun we are a nation of slanted, fat-eyed drunkards, rocking time on the night bus; our grandiose Friday dreams, lost like small...
- Read more about tip and tilt to the sun
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1145 reads
the brown paper bag poetry club
the brown paper bag poetry club this small, musty room accepted our mould a long time gone. but rules live here; still-born memories once begun...
- Read more about the brown paper bag poetry club
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 766 reads
fogged at the tram park
fogged at the tram park blank faced machines, nestled like eels the shivering hiss of electric snaking through the air as an alarm call. travel,...
- Read more about fogged at the tram park
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 851 reads
viper
viper the remembrance of your poison, still angers my blood. what you think you can excuse, with a smile, and a hug, makes me want to vomit my lungs...
- Read more about viper
- Log in to post comments
- 403 reads
not quite AA, but only 12 steps to the bar
not quite AA, but only 12 steps to the bar the afternoon drinkers, wear no wedding rings; these, are the lost men, who failed to persuade, anyone, to...
- Read more about not quite AA, but only 12 steps to the bar
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 7607 reads
red herring
red herring a warn-torn tomcat, 9 lives burnt, and lost. squandered; the cost, tallied by those left behind in the dust; scratching their heads...
- Read more about red herring
- Log in to post comments
- 507 reads
14,000 mg
14,000 mg it seems like enough; the chalky shapes, gathered from middle-aged women, ‘just for my toothache, you know’. innocuous in my smiling...
- Read more about 14,000 mg
- Log in to post comments
- 514 reads
for all the childless fathers
For all the childless fathers perhaps, you didn't love them well enough; consistently enough. perhaps, you never made it; never found someone safe...
- Read more about for all the childless fathers
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1059 reads
breakdown
breakdown we sit in traffic, the same place the same time each day; leaking free will. our wheeled tombs, filled with smoke, with spite, with...
- Read more about breakdown
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 934 reads
section 136
section 136 it's coming... that day when i can no longer step over my pavement cracks. a crisp uniform and shoes polished within an inch of twilight...
- Read more about section 136
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 570 reads
cow pylon
cow pylon there is a conference of horses, bemused in the breaking sun. attempting to understand, why the calf lies still, cancer cold. the...
- Read more about cow pylon
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 762 reads
sad old man taking a shit
sad old man taking a shit it swings out of me, like a tired conker. a sigh in the water. i don't know when, i started looking in on it, curled in the...
- Read more about sad old man taking a shit
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2063 reads
six gold bands
six gold bands i listen to you, trying to remember 1982. back when you weren't rich, successful, and married. and haggard. you talk of forty, whilst...
- Read more about six gold bands
- Log in to post comments
- 429 reads
twin flames burning out separately
twin flames burning out separately we're identical you and i. nothing to fill a trolley, just the basket. i've disguised my drink with bread, and...
- Read more about twin flames burning out separately
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 771 reads
coup de grace
coup de grace bowed, over railings of ice, and iron, the cemetery stares me down. faceless, it blanks me with sunlit stone, frigid and unyielding to...
- Read more about coup de grace
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1313 reads
how the dead rinse away to the sea
how the dead rinse away to the sea i walk the cobbled path downhill, away from the cemetery. a path for mourners, for those with supermarket Sunday...
- Read more about how the dead rinse away to the sea
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 586 reads
the brink men
the brink men they meet, monthly. 4 coffees in a Tesco corner, 4 Mondeos at rest, beneath a Warrington rain cursed by Unilever. they meet to discuss...
- Read more about the brink men
- Log in to post comments
- 428 reads
heading Supertramp
h eading Supertramp they’ve made the petals bright/raining down/halo flocked/by artificial light/and i am reminded of buttercup chins/decades since/...
- Read more about heading Supertramp
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 535 reads
spent
spent the scrying glass, now knows only dark. a blackness, i find nothing in; can make no sense of, any longer. hope, used to swirl like a vision,...
- Read more about spent
- Log in to post comments
- 425 reads
blunted
blunted we’re all working so furiously, to take the sting out of life, blunting our edges, with drugs, or drink, or working late under artificial...
- Read more about blunted
- Log in to post comments
- 425 reads
the loneliness of the long distance diner
the loneliness of the long distance diner the crisp, white linen almost holds my gaze, your empty chair – silent in the flickering light. we dine by...
- Read more about the loneliness of the long distance diner
- Log in to post comments
- 379 reads
mcdonalds
mcdonalds we broke the noiseless lift with small-talk. she mentioned copd training, i recommended an Italian restaurant i had not long left. she said...
- Read more about mcdonalds
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 579 reads
scrapyard
scrapyard as a child i saw magpies, nailed to fencing. a crude warning from farmers; an example set. now, i see bumpers, wheel arches, bonnets and...
- Read more about scrapyard
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 542 reads
cotton wool
cotton wool i used to drink special brew for breakfast, claret and ice cold san miguel work days i’d take a codeine chaser that was when i worked for...
- Read more about cotton wool
- Log in to post comments
- 462 reads
you'll find no online guide for this, so bring intuition
you’ll find no online guide for this, so bring intuition i need a safecracker lenient fingers of love that know how to work my tumblers i can tell...
- Read more about you'll find no online guide for this, so bring intuition
- Log in to post comments
- 337 reads
wristwatch
i haven’t worn a watch since i lost the last one aged 23
- Read more about wristwatch
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 523 reads
amber bain
amber bain today i wanted to pin up a poster on my wall girl with guitar and a tattered jumper feel that NME hope again when pinning up the pages was...
- Read more about amber bain
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 659 reads
missing: presumed poet
toothed toast edges remain, cooled coffee has assembled serene pools in the sink each reflects a ceiling
- Read more about missing: presumed poet
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 509 reads
semblance
semblance displayed as swinging hams, we are ruddy, over-exposed; we have sneak filtered, failed love cropped from the borders a dead gaze, neatly...
- Read more about semblance
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 457 reads
teeter
teeter steel-toed foundations deep dug into crusted shores middle-class plastic drift pushes in layered like ageless skin cold hefty monoliths cloud...
- Read more about teeter
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 984 reads
does that phone work with crumpets?
does that phone work with crumpets? i have a toaster, a useful appliance – it can make toast elevate a teacake crisp a crumpet (eventually) even warm...
- Read more about does that phone work with crumpets?
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 551 reads
'No, i won't be needing breakfast'
‘No, I won’t be needing breakfast’ premier inn, tell me they go that extra mile and i can see that, in the exhausted receptionist, her dead eyes and...
- Read more about 'No, i won't be needing breakfast'
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 212 reads
close cousin
close cousin monkeys die without touch not just the rough and tumble of a jungle but the comfort of contact of touch made of love they withdraw...
- Read more about close cousin
- Log in to post comments
- 71 reads