2023.

You were a freshly baked 
blueberry muffin 
dunked 
in a lukewarm coffee, 
desire 
as a beautiful woman, 
whispering be careful 
what you wish for 
ever so delicately in your ear,
as she bites off 
a piece your earlobe,
a rash on an arse cheek,
a tornado tearing through 
a placid cornfield in Kentucky,  
a marathon 
of watching paint dry, 
a grey hair on a baby’s head, 
a treasure trove 
of unexpected pleasures -
bowing out 
just as I’d got to know you, 
leaving the gutters full 
of fallen tinsel and pine needles-
everything already a distant memory, 
like all the years before and after.


Arabian Carpet Shark. 

In Bristol Aquarium, 
I watch you 
move gracefully 
through your tank.

Near harmless 
to humanity 
and far from home, 
I ask you what 
you’re doing here? 

Where from 
your blue cell, 
with a sigh you say -  
I could just as easily, 
ask you all 
the same.