Bits and bobs We finished our work together,my daughter and I,gathered our tools, the knife and awl,the needles and thread, scraps of leather,the “bits and bobs”, as she said,then asked, what does that phrase mean, anyway?Bits are small pieces, partsbitten off, detached from a greater whole;fragments, chunks, sliced, cut, torn and sheared;think of a shred Continue reading

Acrostic for SBSometimes I forget how the ribsits just beneath the skin, proverbsanded down to a nub,soliloquy little more than a blurb.Strolling up the driveway, you and that glibsmile I hate so much, little bibset just so as you gently disturb sauce with a breadcrumb.Stay near to the ground, thumbstuck out, looking dumb – slow Continue reading

Compression i run a sharp fingernail over a selection of the poreswant to write my angera pair of black leather glovesthe rise of the righta cobweb has been compressedi need them to forgive me – no, not thatpaint peeling from the lid, punchwill i be able to read my own scriptfull of flesh and juice Continue reading

Tea The breath when sick mouth feels viscousimagining bringingyour face taut into apoint then bringingthat point further a mess of passagewaysflattened thick airhard to pass along towhere it’s needed nowblocked nose so teethexposed to find some way less traffickedfor the mess illnessproduces in the bodywhile it mightn’t feelit this is living nowstill this is living Continue reading

The Letter It’s whimsical all right – Old School to the maxThis refusal to use email or text to keep in touch And me going along with itFor some sentimental reasonI don’t know whatMy ageing teacher writing in cursive and ink on parchment from Victoria And me responding, after much faffing about, as he used Continue reading

[un]i[on] [r]ally after [the rally]the beers [are costly][the] extra [working] hoursto catch [up on] the gold[star] minutesbecause [if] you [don’t] laugh [you cry lots]at the [in]justice of summer [rate-hikes] workingchampagne [day]dreams swilling from [coffee cup] crowdsthe WhatsApp group [dia]tribing about the umbrella [clause][the last] hope is [attribution &] the raining day [fund] that’s gonesand[stone gargoyles] Continue reading

what to bring to the Portuguese potluck when they ask for a dishfrom my hometown?an El Jannah Family Feasta halal snack packTim Tams from the Arnott’s factorynear Prospect Reservoir orsweet and sour (bolota) pork?chao chao rice apparentlyis a clandestino stapleit would be instantly recognisableprovocative, somewhat embarrassinglike an culinary 69alternatively: Singapore noodlesif the Intermarché has curry Continue reading

Make believe Laying on a bed of stuffed toysgently strumming a ukulele my daughter’s head rested on my bellyI’d like to think her eyelids softly meetingmelting into something resembling sleepbut I never learned the ukulele sowe’ll just stay hereand make believe. Monotony The wooden stakespropping up fresh growth in the gardenare our microphonesafter our duet Continue reading

Yearning for a Beetle (after John Millais’ Ophelia) For in that sleep of death what dreams may come ̶ ̶ Hamlet (Act I, Scene III) Robin Redbreast came to me last night And sang softly of her I demanded to know more And he opened his brazen little beak In it I placed a Stag Continue reading

Dharma The old man had to catch Dharma twice,chasing the black cat around his front yardfull of nettles, scrap metal, and ten othercats (two of them also black). It took himan hour, we paid him the hundred bucks.Then three of us had to slide the wriggling catinto the carrier bag, only for itto exit through Continue reading