Unsolitary Confinement

close up photo ofg light bulb
Photo by Rahul on Pexels.com

Unsolitary Confinement

Irridescent, luminescent,
Altogether too incessant,
Incandescent, phosphorescent –
Got the light bulb blues.

Light creating, radiating,
Back-of-eyeball irritating,
Unabating, darkness hating –
Glaring on my dues.

Just leave me in the gloom, I pray,
Don’t flood my cell as bright as day
I’m not some freak or cabaret,
Stop watching me, you screws !

Killer of all sleep and resting,
Particle and wave infesting
With your retina-molesting –
Photons spread the news.

Even when my eyes are hidden,
Locked away behind each lid,
Then still you seep on through, unbidden –
Chasing out my snooze.

Lumination aggravation,
Pleading for some abrogation –
No cessation, no salvation –
Won’t you ever fuse ?

Aesthangelist

altered book
Altered Book by Isobelle Ouzman

Aesthangelist

I read the most wonderous novel last year –
So moving, so thoughtful, so witty and sheer.
I think you’d enjoy it – it’s somewhere round here.
So feel free to borrow, I’ll bring it tomorrow –
It ain’t gloom and sorrow, but will raise a tear.

I don’t mean to hassle or bug or cajole,
But these are the hands that have touched at my soul –
Yet all of their beauty is wholly unknown –
These pages get lonely to wander alone.


I heard the most marvellous album last year –
So rich and inspired, so quirky and queer.
I think you’d enjoy it – the vocals are clear.
I’ll lend you the disk if you’re willing to risk –
The tempo is brisk, but it long haunts the ear.

I don’t mean to pressure or preach or ensnare,
But these are the songs that assuaged my despair –
I long to belong, to be part of the show –
And know there are others who know what I know.


I saw the most glorious movie last year
So moody and epic, so lush and sincere
I think you’d enjoy it – oh, please volunteer !
By all means I’ll lend what I sure recommend,
For what kind of friend would not loan out their gear ?

I don’t mean to labour or pester or dwell,
But these are the visions that saved me from hell.
They may not be normal, they may not be rife –
But maybe, just maybe, they may change your life.


I’m waiting to hear what you thought of my dears,
Waiting for rapture or rancour or sneers,
Waiting for days and for weeks and for years –
Until they come sheepishly unopened back to me –
And still you will miss how remiss this appears.

I don’t mean to censure or grumble or such,
For you are my friends who have given so much –
Yet still you don’t think or else still you don’t care
When you once again leave me with nothing to share.

Doorknocker Blues

steel door handle on door
Photo by lalesh aldarwish on Pexels.com

Doorknocker Blues

Don’t you come around here
I’m warning you, don’t you come around here, boy
Cos I won’t be home, d’you hear ?
Cos I won’t be here when you come around here, boy
So don’t you come knocking
            I know that you’re in there
Said don’t you come knocking
            You’re silent as sin there
There’s nobody home, cos I won’t be unlocking
There’s nobody home, so you don’t you come knocking
            Your TV is flickering somewhere within there
            You’re neighbours are bickering, winos are liquoring
            Street kids are snickering.  What do I care ?
            And I can wait days
            And I will
            I can wait days, and I’m waiting until
            You open your door and you find me here still
            You open your door, cos I’m knocking

Why you so stubborn ?
            I guess I just am
So stupid and stubborn
            I’ve no sense for damn
You’re shabby and sloven, a slacker and screw
I bet you’re on acid, and reefer, and glue
Your vision is flaccid – your timing is too
            I guess I’m a bit of a shambles, a clam
            I guess that I get it from you

Now if you was plumbing to tap me for shaking
You’d better just come in, there’s nothing worth taking
            It really ain’t that way, I’m hitting a wall
            I just need to talk yer, was all

You just need to talk, eh ?
            And split a few beers
You just need to talk, after how many years ?
            Thing is, there’s nobody else I could try
            Not Ma.  Not the guys.  Not Father MacKay
            My girl, see, my girl is – well, she’s gone and got…
            Well, me too, I guess, it was my fault alot
            But I never got no sense for damn

You mean you done gone and got your girl with kid ?
Jeez, of all the stupid skid you did !
This takes the slam
            I know, I know !  What could I do but scram ?
Oh.  Now I see
You rabbit out and think of me
And hope you find a life so bad
It grits you up to be a dad
But maybe what you find, my lad, is reasons worth to flee
But then one day, some years away, when you ain’t clocking
They may come knocking.

It’s Probably Important

filing cabinet

It’s Probably Important

Filing, filing,
They must be got in order,
Thought who’d be such a hoarder
To let them stack so deep ?

Filing, filing,
A papery assortment
Of doggery deportment,
And thoroughly asleep.

Do they rustle out in vain,
And yearn to be of use again ?
Or do they long to end their plight
With damp or flame or paper mite ?
Either way, the data’s piling –
Only remedy is

Filing, filing,
So endlessly abundant,
So battered and redundant,
So crumpled and a-crease.

Filing, filing,
They served so well their placement,
So box them in the basement,
And let them rest in peace.

Moving the Goalposts

goalposts

Moving the Goalposts

So much emotion invested
In teams over which we have little control –
So many loyalties tested,
Where happiness hangs on a single damn goal.
We buy into brands and we swear that we’re theirs,
But we’ve nothing to offer ’cept hoping and prayers –
So they win or they lose – and at least someone cares,
Though we act like it cost us our soul.

But all of that devotion
For an empty sporting rite
Must leaves no spare emotion
To our fellow humans’ plight –
There’s torture to be ending, and forests to be saving,
There’s justice to be tending, and freedom to be braving –
There’s too much needs defending to waste our flags with waving,
Let’s get our passions working here instead.
We need to get ignited for the good of all the blighted,
Regardless if they’re wearing blue or red.

Natural Affection

lady luck
Lady Luck by Natalie Holland

Natural Affection

Just a gentle shove,
Just enough to be affected –
You’ll be coursed with love,
Seeking ways to be selected.
Friendship, fear, and lust,
All combine in equal measure,
Simmer, spark, combust –
Evolutionary pleasure.
Each prosaic nerve
Further drugs the mindtrip you’re on –
They are there to serve,
Hope and love from cell and neuron.
And when they call,
Knowing this will help you not-at-all.

Hello Aeronautic

flying vee

Hello Aeronautic

Astride your Flying Vee,
You beckon me
To step right up and climb aboard –
The bass is thrubbing low,
It’s time to go,
Ignition with your power-chord.
At once we lose the crowds
To walk on clouds,
As smoke comes billowing beside –
You swoop me low and high,
We are the sky,
We buckle-up and take the ride.

Musical AI version generated by Suno.com – find more of them over here.

Us Too ?

witch trial
A Witch Trial by Joseph Baker

Us too ?

The accusations may be true,
Although we know we’ll never really know,
Because they’ll never come to court –
So round and round the rumours flow.
Is it slander ?  Is it exposé ?
We guess, but cannot know for sure,
Though plenty tell us yes or no,
And brand the sinners from the pure.
Some will castigate victims,
Sniffing lies or madness in their act –
But others join the critical mass,
Until the fatally-named are publicly sacked.

But us ?  We must decide –
To believe or to ignore ?
There’s plenty point the finger,
And there’s plenty keep the score.
But are they not still innocent
Until beyond a reasoned doubt ?
Or are we so convinced
That unproved testimony carries clout ?
Is this then justice by the mob
That surely always ends in tears ?
Or are we now, collectively,
The jury of their peers ?

Either we’re waking up to reason,
Or else witches are in season.

Cognitive Dissonance

goth
Forensic scientist Abby Sciuto in NCIS

Cognitive Dissonance

Science – we love it !

From mathematics to evolution,
Thermodynamics to climate change,
Electric potential to air pollution –
Anything new and clever and strange !

But when we get home, then what do we read ?
Fantasy, dragons, and wizards, and war !
Our only science is fiction, indeed –
From laws of physics to psychics of lore !

We like to pretend that we’re Roundheads or Yorks,
Or X-Men, or cyborgs, or zombies, or Gauls.
So plug in the console and slay a few orcs,
Then back to the lab when reality calls…