Dreamboat
Exhausted by the dumping I stole away
aboard the Lardy Cake for far distant
shores of Nark, where bumble bees put their feet
up after a hard day’s humming &
talking twaddle is a hanging offence…
Grimbeau
Scroodles
Category: flash fiction
July 27, 2016
Maud in Weeds
Thigh-deep wading in the river, a band of
Fading lilies in her hair she whistled into
Cool air as the black night rested among
Its retinue in St. Cuthbert’s belfry.
This is not the dawn of last year, nor more
Than it is another night of wonder.
For there, beyond the railway sleeper
Love is rising
July 26, 2016
Family Resemblance
Seven brothers owned
seven separate farms:
while related,
they found themselves in quite
different fields
July 25, 2016
Chisholm Trail Dawn
Join me as I slink to twig the silver
dust away from the campfire’s embers.
See the fire glow: teaspoon it to flame,
Carefully perch the tall, crimson pot atop,
askew atop that is, and dig the day’s
latrine with that small yellow plastic spade.
We are on the outskirts of the craic of dawn.
Scantily clad tidings of cheap skates and
Square war-jaws, cousins to sleep’s hazel
snacks and myxamatosis of your mind’s eye.
July 25, 2016
daylight robbery
dawn breaks on the bough
replacing weary night;
werewolf and dogman
return to their lairs;
and, we ride out
to snatch Tyburn’s necklace,
and plant it deep in
undiscovered clays
July 24, 2016
Leaf
A giant slug,
six inches long,
Herefordshire resident;
Lettuce pray!
Yesterday
Afternoon
4.43pm GMT
I became old,
Unofficially
July 24, 2016
Garbage
My old man’s a dustbin,
He wears a dustbin lid:
His sister’s name is Binbag,
And his brother’s name is Sid.
July 24, 2016
Laundry
Midday!
Phew, that was close run race.
Nearly did something worthwhile
Till I came to my senses.
Let me tell you straight
The terror was tangible, tangerine, terrible.
Now it is over I can
return to Furplefarple Land
rest easy better in my bed
than this red sweater does
but cobalt and magenta
are in the wash
and so is
a frozen chicken
July 23, 2016
Tone of Voice
Every time you go
‘Whoops!’
(which is increasingly
more frequent of late)
Johosophat gets very jumpy
It is a good thing that
I will never tell you that
You might do it to disturb
Him just for the sport
I know what you’re like sometimes
The devil makes work
For bone idle hands
bloody sociopaths,
boorish prats, the absent-minded,
& those who observe the worrying demise of rubber tree plants…
July 23, 2016
Firestarter
Bring me moonshine
In your smile
&
gusto
In my hearth
O hearths!
~
The paraphernalia of open fires—
Scuttles, grates, tongs, clinkers,
ash shovel, hatchet
Rickety kneebends
Scrunching up the Sun
The News of the Screws
~
Picking good cinders
Hatcheting sticks
Three matches to light
Always three matches
Crackle & slow collapse
~
Juvenile flames keen to jive
The timing of the bigger sticks
Critical mass
The placement of the first coals
Put the heavy front on
~
Clunk
Shut the little door
& hope real hard
Offer up a silent
prayer to the firegods
Every little helps
Last refuge of a scoundrel
See it caught at last
Grimbeau 