disney apocalypse

pinocchio’s giving a conference tonight
strung out in all the flashing lights
the blue fairy stating the known unknowns
while his nose pushes over the microphones

dumbo’s down with a case of the grumps
the circus taken by the clowns and the trumps
his mouse denounced, his handler minted
his magic feather flogged on vinted

sleeping beauty makes the rent
by cutting meth with steradent
her body stiff but her lips still ruby
her prince away on a tour of duty

snow white trills, swiping right
7 more dwarfs on the bill tonight
onlyfans always makes her babble
that and that bitch with the poisoned apple

incoming flagged on the iron dome!
mary poppins in like a drone
with a mission to flatten the whole damned city
with a bag full of swag and a heart full of pity

spit spot
spit spot
hurry along children, don’t get shot

circadian rhythms

walruses snooze
wherever they choose
one tusk hooked in the floe

sea otters snore
in rafts offshore
drifting paw to toe

koalas nap happily
high in the canopy
of australian botanica

swifts have an aptitude
for dozing at altitude
half way back from Africa

spiders catch zeds
in zigzag beds
dangling a la mode

people siesta
in ford fiestas
parked up by the side of the road

a worldwide slumber
everything zonked
stilled without number
in mountains or swamps

an old time lullaby
the dreams it brings
the earth’s soft hushabye
she sings as she spins

oops there goes another one

Romans saw omens but over-extended
Mayans lost water on which they depended
Qin caved-in under floods & droughts
Egyptians inflicted by military routs
Phoenicians ceased in trade war traumas
Greeks peaked at fractious borders
Ottomans bottomed, politically arthritic
Sumerians despaired when their soil turned acidic
(So our imminent collapse should hold no surprises
Preceded by so many famous demises)

southbound, M40

May 17th, 2024
in an empty hire van heading for
home
moving job done
Martha to Manchester
the start of something better

and we’re making good time
I’m hardly trying
any quicker’s technically flying

but then … not
cars, lorries, EVERYTHING stopped
the motorway a parking lot

time passes
in a convoy of yawns
and stationary sunglasses

drivers get out
straining to see what the nothing’s about
uncertainly birthed
on the tarmac earth
in comfort onesies and business skirts
overalls, trainers, ties and shirts
from ETA to absolute nought
surviving on the last of the M&Ms they bought
while the traffic in the northbound stretch
rushes back to the life they left

how suddenly
how completely everything changes
routes into roots
the wind winding through a field of wheat
a baby in a woman’s arms
life barely begun
laughing at the line of cars
reaching for the sun

why

so why did Jesus cry out on the cross?
was he lost?
double-crossed?
finally failed
by the father he’d trailed
as the one true god who always prevail’d?
the beard in the sky
the good time guy
the holy moly hero on high
CEO
of everything below
the man who made everything – yea – even the iron
they forged into nails to crucify ‘im

jeez – thanks dad
my bad
I thought for a second you were on my side
I’d give you the finger but my hands are tied