Wednesday, 4 November 2026

Goin' Out West

Out on the Westway one spring
evening my misjudged boot just
jammed in the synthetic turf
my knee went one way
                    my ankle
              the other
         it was quite a circus
it's hard to convey the level
of pathetic limping and whimpering
like the most wounded puppy which
dogged me for day after week after

Fast forward six months the
creaky gang are lagging behind on
Angel Falls via Willow Creek Trail

Derek and Agnes choose me to forge on ahead
to the meeting place lest our guide the
holy Maddie becomes alarmed by the missed deadline

Proud to be chosen as the 45-
year-old messenger boy, I plug in
and jog down the path. Time to test
the ankle and the knee, meet my
guardian angel and deliver some
vital message before expiring in
the Athenian manner her sunlit
face the last - 

The clumpy boots and the dust don't help but
when Goin' Out West comes on and we're into
our stride the body knows the score
once more and the lifeforce it will be admitted
rises with a pulse affirming

I am the courier, I will meet the deadline
I am a man on a mission and I'm back
baby coming back to you my imaginary
Maddie who's secretly enjoying
a few hours peace
away from the crinklies

How it began, how it ended

Low to mid January bereft hopped on a whim
to the fourth division seaside town
we used to visit when 'family' was still a thing

How the rain fell down decades
gone, not one thing had changed
same balcony same sunken park

Equipped with a disposable camera from
Secret Santa, plus a new iPod but
some things never change
same flag pub same church hall and
the same rain fell as I snapped
each blurry inconsequence

For old times I drifted round the
extensive concrete sea defences just
like on 70s mood stomps. Then
playing Springsteen on the internal radio
with a teenage philosophy cigarette
waiting for anything to begin

Trying to say, to what remained
of myself, there will be a resolution
to this latest erosion. Surely
promenades will be built to
protect your delicate coastlines

All day listening to recently re-
discovered Karen Dalton songs older than
Springsteen was back then and
on the shivering train home played
In a Station on repeat. Not my habit
but I was swimming in that sea like
a sailor seeking salvation

Monday, 2 November 2026

Wake up you're doing it again

My boys they suffered a legendary defeat now
look need hurry sleep it off we're in
room 205 and have an action packed day waiting
peaceful slumbers are required the last thing
one needs is a taunting
from the other side of the dirty curtain, yes
it's quite the insult to suffer a haunting
from the not so ethereal
realm and I know whose tongue those foul sneers
such cheap jeers originated
no oxygen supply for my detractor
thou nameless wretch who shall remain
sir a mere flapping scoundrel

Transfigured a la realm into
squawking mocking bird of parrot
wings a clapping with glee at my boys
shortfall, stumbling, succumbent
catastrophic capitulation
as we have established, still at the
jabs and jibes the rising rage - Cut it out!

One feels targeted, one starts to mutter
from the depths, the worst of all words
and in many fresh combinations
they lurch from gut to throat

@~{(&^!^* (£%$^~~£(*!"@#

Till a familiar voice shakes and
soothes from the right side

Saturday, 24 October 2026

They do this, they do that

So basically today PHP got two critical bugs
that let anyone run code on your server
without even logging in which is bad and then
the details leaked before the patch was even out
which is worse and it works on
WordPress and MediaWiki and Magento and Joomla and Larave
and Censys says like 1.5 million servers are running a version with no fix
so the NSA was like
"take your system offline"
and the FBI was like "take your system offline"
and CISA and the UK and CERT-EU were all like "take your system offline"
and then the Prime Minister of Japan
The actual Prime Minister
posted at 5:55 in the morning telling 48.8 million people
to take their system offline so everyone took their system offline
like the Dutch cybersecurity agency took its own website offline
and the Dutch parliament went offline
and the Port of Rotterdam went offline
and Finland and France and Denmark started pulling government sites
and Wikipedia went down, and http://Archive.org went down
and Asana and GOG and Something Awful went down
and the University of Vienna's webmail went
for some reason and that's just PHP
Because GitLab also dropped a CVSS 10.0
which is the highest score they give out
for a bug that's been there since 2014
so that's every self-hosted GitLab for twelve years
and then LiteLLM 1.107.0 got hijacked and shipped a credential stealer
and a remote access trojan in every single wheel and the Docker images
including latest and you didn't even have to import it
just installing it was enough
and it's the second time this year
and then Railway paused every deployment
on the entire platform because someone got into the environment variables
so now everyone has to rotate every secret they've ever stored there
TiDB Cloud said someone was walking around
inside with stolen credentials
for basically a month
And an extortion group says they took 10.6 terabytes
and Zeabur got breached for the second time in two months
and is just shutting down like the whole company
and Node.js patched remote code execution and a TLS bypass
and CISA says Plex is being actively exploited
and someone took over 300 Tor exit relays to steal SSH passwords
and SafePay ransomware has hit over 600 critical infrastructure orgs
and India's biggest bank filed a data loss incident
and Japan has been in an official
state of emergency in cyberspace since October 9
which honestly explains the 5:55 AM post
Oh and eMudhra a certificate authority
that's issued over 60 million certificates
whose entire job is proving websites are who they say they are
was supposed to be using private keys that are random numbers over a hundred digits long
and one of them was 4 just 4
and the others were like 66 and 237
Anyway it's Wednesday


https://x.com/fiveoutofnine/status/2113045722744717360

Friday, 23 October 2026

Heavy Metal Thunder

Would love to take a sledgehammer
and crack a nut with it
crack that nut right up

Just smash the smithereens
out of the nut
see the kernel explode
in all directions

Heavy duty steel hammer
send the shell hurtling
solid wood handle, comfortable feel
pulverize nut after nut after nut

Nutmeat
BISH
Endocarp, pericarp
BASH
Seed coat, hard shell, husk
BOSH

Smash the smugness out of the nuts
with my heavy-trade hammer
sledge it, bang it, smash it up
take them all down a peg or two

Monday, 19 October 2026

Premonition

Michael Crane
not the actor as he always said
with great patience came
out with us on a Monday mission
and after his customary
six pints

Stumbled into a boy
by the station
silent
shanked
took a sudden left, but MC was
always one for the Irish slash French
departures. We thought no more about it until
he turned up not to beat about the
bush dead

Rando poked, didn't realise the devolved
devalued state of his organs
result: immunity to pain
alert mechanism. Long cold night -

He laid him down to sleep
his associates long since
for reasons dispersed

Lifeblood gently seeping into
onto a Selling England by the Pound
Royal Scam park bench

References our friend
Michael Crane of many
a Monday mission
would have appreciated


Friday, 16 October 2026

Small, hardy breed

In a field somewhere west of Dinton Pastures
The midday sun scorching my nylon 'trackies'
Six Li'l Sebastians barrel toward us
Their manes waggling with glee
We welcome them with giddiness.
Both parties are thrilled to encounter
The other after so long in their respective
Enclosures. Unsure, I pat their solid sides and
They shake their toothsome heads in joy.
My secret friend approaches from afar - 'Look
What we have found' I will say.
These ponies are surely ours now, or for
As many minutes as they will tolerate
Our city ways. Maybe offer my fruit pot.
Slowly the novelty shrinks and they graze
on tufts and thickets. An earlier admirer
compliments me on said trackies, an
Unlikely item to select but beggars.
The other has arrived now but we've lost the
Dressing room, the tubby tribe have returned to
Their games and we to ours. The time for
Blessings was candle brief and miracles
Are for the dumbest of beasts.

After A Blessing, James Wright 


Thursday, 15 October 2026

Bundle of fun, 1984

I don't like the table to
peter out
at this end

We haven't got any more
flowers have we?

We have got my splendid gold salver

Gold salver

Can you fetch my gold salver
in my study

Splendid gold salver
in my study

Wednesday, 14 October 2026

My feet (remix)

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Monday, 12 October 2026

10k blood-brain time barrier

Circling Wembley Stadium cee eight nine kay
endocannabinoids begin to fizz up
and Start Me Up thumps from within
to pump up the runners

Just as it did 44 count them years ago
at this approximate location
original architecture, with a (see
if you can spot him) much younger
version of me standing in the centre circle
with my old friends
we was just nippers
watching the even then old Stones
combined age nine hundred
playing one of their new ones. And

I'll never be a grown man, and I'll
never cry, but I will be
dead and I will oh come on now
there's not far to go, we're

Not finished yet, there's still
time for one last push
to the finish line

Ferryby

By order of the night I was compelled
to speak of Ferryby. Its random dock
bedecked in roses for one

Elevation 1,820 feet. State a fact
make it real as the furnace
from which it was brought forth

The villages overgrown with tough weeds
and green poking out
of every untrodden patch of ground

Sail the river south-west
don't look back, ready your bow

Yes once we resided in Ferryby
Demographics: Human 77%

We shall remember its name
while forgetting its what
or where and the colour of the boat
which collected passengers
whose primary language is Common

Brung them around and so forth

Wednesday, 7 October 2026

Monotony

the monotone voice
THE MONOTONE VOICE
The Monotone Voice
ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏɴᴏᴛᴏɴᴇ ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ

    𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎
    𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓿𝓸𝓲𝓬𝓮
    𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆
    𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔳𝔬𝔦𝔠𝔢

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖛𝖔𝖎𝖈𝖊
𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕧𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦
𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚

        𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝗈𝗇𝗈𝗍𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗏𝗈𝗂𝖼𝖾
        𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞
        𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒
        ⓣⓗⓔ ⓜⓞⓝⓞⓣⓞⓝⓔ ⓥⓞⓘⓒⓔ

𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓸𝓷𝔂 . 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒚 . 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔬𝔫𝔶 . 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕪

🅃🄷🄴 🄼🄾🄽🄾🅃🄾🄽🄴 🅅🄾🄸🄲🄴
the monotone voice
t h e m o n o t o n e v o i c e
t.h.e m.o.n.o.t.o.n.e v.o.i.c.e

  • t—h—e m—o—n—o—t—o—n—e v—o—i—c—e
  • t / h / e m / o / n / o / t / o / n / e v / o / i / c / e
  • [the monotone voice]
  • {the monotone voice}

    «the monotone voice»
          『the monotone voice』
          【the monotone voice】
    ⟦the monotone voice⟧


    ⟪the monotone voice⟫
          // the monotone voice //
          /// THE MONOTONE VOICE ///
    the_monotone_voice

    𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙮 : MONOTONY : [ monotony ] : ≋ monotony ≋

    ~the~monotone~voice~
    ≋ the monotone voice ≋
    ≡ the monotone voice ≡
    ║ THE MONOTONE VOICE ║

    💬━━━ the monotone voice ━━━😳
    💨━━━ the monotone voice ━━━😪
    💭━━━ the monotone voice ━━━😯
    💀━━━ the monotone voice ━━━😤

    ░the monotone voice░
    ▒the monotone voice▒
    ▓the monotone voice▓
    ░▒▓ THE MONOTONE VOICE ▓▒░

  • ◇ the monotone voice ◇
  • ◆ THE MONOTONE VOICE ◆
  • ○ the monotone voice ○
  • ● THE MONOTONE VOICE ●
  • △ the monotone voice △
  • ▲ THE MONOTONE VOICE ▲
  • → the monotone voice →
  • ← the monotone voice ←

    ↑ THE MONOTONE VOICE ↓
    ↔ the monotone voice ↔
    ∴ the monotone voice ∴
    ∷ the monotone voice ∷
    ∎ THE MONOTONE VOICE ∎
    ∞ the monotone voice ∞
    ∅ the monotone voice ∅
    ≈≈≈ THE MONOTONE VOICE ≈≈≈

  • T H E / M O N O T O N E / V O I C E
  • THE → MONO → TONE → VOICE
  • the / mono / tone / voice
  • THE.MONOTONE.VOICE
  • THE::MONOTONE::VOICE
  • [THE][MONOTONE][VOICE]
  • <THE><MONOTONE><VOICE>
  • (THE) (MONOTONE) (VOICE)
  • THE = MONOTONE = VOICE
  • THE + MONOTONE + VOICE
  • THE × MONOTONE × VOICE
  •  
  • echo "the monotone voice"
  • print("the monotone voice")
  • console.log("the monotone voice");
  • 01010100 01001000 01000101 / 01001101 01001111 01001110 01001111 01010100 01001111 01001110 01000101 / 01010110 01001111 01001001 01000011 01000101
  • 74 68 65 / 6D 6F 6E 6F 74 6F 6E 65 / 76 6F 69 63 65
  • 116 104 101 / 109 111 110 111 116 111 110 101 / 118 111 105 99 101
  • dGhlIG1vbm90b25lIHZvaWNl
  • 20-8-5 / 13-15-14-15-20-15-14-5 / 22-15-9-3-5

    .. .... . / -- --- -. --- - --- -. . / ...- --- .. -.-. .
    ⠞⠓⠑ ⠍⠕⠝⠕⠞⠕⠝⠑ ⠧⠕⠊⠉⠑

    🅼🅾🅽🅾🆃🅾🅽🆈 / m—o—n—o—t—o—n—y

    ᛏᚺᛖ ᛗᛟᚾᛟᛏᛟᚾᛖ ᚹᛟᛁᚲᛖ
    thē mōnōtōnē vōicē
    THE MONOTONE VOICE // 01
    [VOICE: MONOTONE] THE
    <VOICE pitch="0">the monotone voice</VOICE>
    THE MONOTONE VOICE
     
    ░▒▓ MONOTONY ▓▒░░▒▓ MONOTONY ▓▒░
    ░▒▓ MONOTONY ▓▒░░▒▓ MONOTONY ▓▒░
  • Tuesday, 6 October 2026

    Irish stew

    Street haunting my wobbly way home
    corner of St Augustine's and Murray when
    Look out it's the Peelers

    My companions suddenly evaporate
    the jam sandwich brakes hard and the feller's
    fast out and up in my grill, polite like

            'Excuse me sir you match the description
            of someone we'd like to talk to
            regarding a serious incident'

    My default pos in such circs
    regretfully
    is flippancy and verbosity

      'You must be sorely mistaken officer sir because
      I match no description anyone even the most
      imaginative writer could conjure
      either verbally
      or armed with pen why
      even these days the old AI'

            'Now look here - '

      'It can't be me, whatever it is I have or
      haven't done because you see I am sui generis'

    He shakes his head and purses his pretty lips
            'You do not have to say anything... ' 

    And so forth before
    announcing rather prissily that I could
    well be charged with misuse
    of the King's Latin on the
    public highway, what a jumped up trumped up little

    Realise I'm speaking out loud

            'Get in the back of the van'

    Monday, 5 October 2026

    Little Alexander

    He was only 4 feet 6
    but he could swagger down the street
    waving loaded pistols
    his Great Dane by his side

    *Bounce*

    At the age of 12 he contracted a form
    of tuberculosis leading to spinal curvature

    He was frail
    asthmatic
    and in chronic pain
    he had stunted growth.
    A pronounced hunchback, who
    required a stiff canvas bodice to stand upright
    but Alexander Pope was not an asshole

    Not like me

    He was only 4 feet 6
    but he would stagger down the street
    as a satirist of the Enlightenment era.
    The girls could not resist his
    witty letters

    He lived in a villa at Twickenham
    filled with the relaxing sound of trickling water.
    And how about you boy, what have you done?

    Some people try to pick up girls
    this maybe happened to A Pope
    who had an unrequited infatuation
    with Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

    But again with the high fevers, the inflamed eyes
    and abdominal pain. Result: erotic unfulfillment

    Yet possessed of a sharp, flirtatious mind
    Alexander Pope was never called - except by
    his numerous enemies - an asshole

    Yes he was only 4 feet 6
    had platonic bonds with Martha B
    but it was Lady M who he had the eyes for

    This led to an outburst, a declaration
    whereupon she laughed in his face.
    Mortifying, such mortification, a rupture

    Leading to a twelve-year literary war. Now, some say
    acceptance of rejection is the best form of self-care.
    And you have to realize not everybody has to love you

    Mmmmmmm



    The Rejected Poet


    2.8 million years of mental illness

    accumulated doom crowds out sleep years lost to also obesity
    younger longer compulsive linked to also physical
    inactivity linked to neurodevelopmental
    disturbances emotional and language landscape
    difficulties addictive near-constant a constant
    presence addictive difficulty to capture attention anxiety
    disorders poor sleep growing concerns growing
    features woven into the fabric digital fabric
    of screen use the flickers rewards linked to
    poor academic outcome lack of lack of language
    disturbed sleep no concentration delusions
    physical health blood pressure brain struggles
    to realise to communicate doom the endless cycle
    impaired decision making taking time to infinite and
    deadly mistakes to definitively end cycle stop or cease
    all mental brain anxiety activity regardless
    of socio-economic regardless of age status
    the harm the damage endless regardless demand
    regulation but it's digital health risks on demand
    cause and effect developmental harm risks assess
    call for action call for change a legitimate position
    disorder and damage and 2.8 million years
    of mental illness however not scientific and it
    changes so fast digital one day limit to stop
    exposure damage screen on scroll on by the time
    of research and action it's too late now it's too late

    Saturday, 3 October 2026

    Hook face

    Sometimes I'm struck down
    with a case of Peter Hook face
    years of wielding low hung bass
    and running 10ks at a decent
    pace; mean-
    while what have you done?

    Yes sometimes we men of an age
    come up come all
    over with a grimace known as
    Peter Hook face.

    Halfway between a gurn and
    a smirk, like
    I'm not dead yet
    but Christ it hurts.

    Assassination

    Bearded men
    sit in parked cars and stare into the distance

    Bearded men
    walk ahead of the wife and squawking kids

    Bearded men
    don't have time for this type of nonsense

    Bearded men
    die in increasingly hairy and manly ways 

    D-U-M-B everyone's accusing me

    The old grey mare ain't what he used to be
        hamster wheel, scrambled
        eggs, anchor, soup.

    His brain is a smoothie now
        tapioca pudding at this point
        vocal stim.

    He's Flanderizing, keeps
    repeating it like
    it's a profound revelation.

    He's on a looper
    coping by trying to normalize
    his stupidity.

    His skull only houses rancid
    ground meat
    and broken light bulbs.

    Big League Chew
        like a third-rate cruise ship comic
        brain worms, mashed potatoes.

    His wig continues to morph.
        He feels the need
        to explain the 'joke'.


    Wednesday, 30 September 2026

    Summer eventually

    There was a question about a poem
    I'd never read before
    which kept using the word
    gentian, a word I'd never
    heard but which had to be some
    flower

    My mind wasn't really
    fully focused

    Again and again with this
    gentian; it quite began to grate
           but I couldn't let this affect
           my confused and sloppy answer

           Was gentian even with a hard
           or soft gee - gestapo or gentle

           Searching for the symbolism
           with burnt out torch light

    If I hurried I could turn over
    the paper walk to the bar and 
         be first in line for 
         the pint and pizza deal

                      What days
             not of blue darkness and despair

         Although there were some times
    we fell down the stairs



    Bavarian gentians


    Monday, 28 September 2026

    Diminutive spirits

    Warming up...
    ask me for favors
    asking for treats in the
    (not) afterlife; here & now

    Don't say Guten Tag (spooks em +
    not actually German) plus
    small gnomes are a tautology unto themself
    Teeny kleiny Zwerge, Zwerginnen

    Enter the Information Center
    and ask the staff for the chest

    I'm eligible but sturgligning
    to list 31 sexual flavors, but

    I remain in full Atlantic control, and
    they've all had their shingles jab
    ahead of the End Days Orgie

    Q. for Mr Psychological Memory Man
    aka old Billy Bottle
    Who are the slut gnomes of false Berlin?
    proscenium arch crumbles
    the Information Center cannot hold

    Cheaply constructed post-war architecture
    dirty promiscuous leprechaunicals
    bizarre little creatures to a men and women
    Zwerge, Zwerginnen I think
    it's over now, I hope it's
    just beginning

    And you
    my pretty little elf
    remain in full control
    of the board

    Shout out to rare body oils



    Jeopardy


    Sunday, 27 September 2026

    "Please forgive me for stressing you with my predicaments

    I am Mrs. Elizabeth Edward, 63 years,
    from USA, and I am suffering from a long time cancer
    and from all indication my condition is really bad
    and deteriorating
    as my doctors have confirmed and courageously

    Advised me that I may not live beyond two months
    from now for the reason that my tumor
    has reached a critical stage which
    has defiled all forms of medical treatment

    As a matter of fact, registered nurse by profession
    while my husband was dealing on Gold Dust and Gold Bars
    till his sudden death, then I took over his business till date.

    In fact, at this moment I and my late husband
    have a deposit sum of ($5.000.000.00 US)
    five million dollars with one of the leading bank.

    But unfortunately
    I cannot visit the bank
    since I’m critically sick
    and powerless
    to do anything myself but my bank account officer advised me
    to assign any of my trustworthy relative,
    friends or partner with authorization letter
    to stand as the recipient of i and my late husband
    funds but sorrowfully I don’t have any reliable relative
    and no child.

    I want you to know there are no risk involved,
    it is 100% hitch free & safe. If you will be interesting
    to assist in getting this fund into your account
    for charity project to fulfill my promise
    before anything happens to me, please
    let me know immediately. Therefore,
    I want you to receive the money and take 50%
    to take care of yourself and family while 50%
    should be use basically on humanitarian purposes
    mostly to orphanages home

    Motherless babies home, less privileged
    and disable citizens and widows around the world

    And as soon as I receive your respond
    I shall send you the full details with my pictures,
    banking records and with full contacts of
    my banking institution to communicate them on the transaction.

    You can only get me through by my private email
    As i wait for your urgent reply

    Hope to hear from you soon
    Best Regards
    Mrs. Elizabeth Edward"

    Friday, 25 September 2026

    Poptimism

    You're only a week away
    from healing

    EMDR, MDMA
    Lawson's egg sandwich

    Meet the magical shining one
    on a moonlit path

    Or schedule session
    with succubus

    DBT, RICE
    go and see your friends down under

    Steroids and sunlight
    hydration electrolytes

    Take baby steps
    to the moon and back

    You're only ever
    a week away

    Wednesday, 23 September 2026

    07208, 1988

    Jake was all guys we're inviting everyone
    we want them to know you're our special guests
    and if we can't celebrate our English friends
    what's the point of living
    in this New Jersey shithole
    or anything really, of course
    most of them won't come cos we're too far
    out

    But they came, many of them came and
    nine out of ten were dudes, guys but
    whatever Let's play the Smiths that's what
    you guys like right, we just want to
    make you feel welcome 

    QUARTERS

    This is the life you like this life
    Do you know the Queen I'm just kidding
    Football soccer pavement sidewalk
    You're gonna see your girl in DC

    SLAMMERS

    Martha was so kind to me
    leant me a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt
    I never wanted to take off

    Monday, 21 September 2026

    Something and something

    A mournful air
    approaches down the car
    a gentle harmonica refrain redolent
    of Larry Adler (one
    for the teenagers) here
    he comes now; sparse of hair
    lean and unhoused
    occasional hopeful stops
    with a  proffered cap (trad arr)
    do you know Midnight Cowboy?

    Next day different train
    here comes another one
    'Excuse me ladies and gentlemen... '
    now I can't get over his height
    and it doesn't seem right for
    a young and on the face of it
    athletic 6'5" guy to be begging
    I must interrogate my prejudices

    And here something something
    about the times we live in

    Saturday, 19 September 2026

    Wednesday morning 1940

    Twirly
    say what
    too early

    What's that hum
    a hovering, pitch drone
    like one of those red 55s
    louder now, peek
    through nets - a heli
    right o/s my window
    at least 15% awake

    pll bck, n tme fr vwls
    fk thy wnt frm m

    Suddenly wide awow
    we're not walking hand in hand by the river any more
    I promised to send you the picnic pictures
    will there be a knock on the door
    yes there's the knock on the door

    Those kids the
    garage kids who're
    always squawking
    now it's just jim jam
    what does that-

    The knocks on the door fade
    the kids louder fainter yim yam

    The fog recedes, I'm up to 40%
    VITAM MORTIUS REDDO

    Come on man
    chant them down
    babylon chase them
    ancient ones away

    Friday, 18 September 2026

    Bandages we have known

     I couldn't say I wasn't warned

    'I did warn you' she liked to say
    with a caveat emptor shrug

    Not to stand too close to the fire
    least of all to dive headfirst
    into the flames

    But the time comes in a man's life
    when he has a choice to make

    Enjoy the fireworks at a safe distance
    or douse himself in alcohol and
    run around with a burning
    rag yelling

    'This is what I've been waiting for'

    Cleanup Crew

    Back in the old rat catching days
    we'd pop their heads with our lead shots
    send the robodogs out later
    bonus payout for every thousand tails

    Each busted melon a satisfying pop
    each final squeal a delight
    a giddy rush of gunfire and mayhem

    Not all of us born to it
    the dropout rate was high
    but I never felt higher
    than when the first signal was given

    We'd sit around the oil barrels burning
    sucking on the rations
    faces a fetching blend
    of sweat, smoke and juice

    Never had much to say but
    we knew in our hearts our team was on
    the right side of history

    Not your C13th destiny

    With all this talk of blockades
    and the barbican

    And amid my spiritual
    starvation

    I nightnod to daydream
    of a silent slink
    through the postern gate

    Where I'd evaporate
    into another life

    Take a chance
    on the roll of any die


    Wednesday, 16 September 2026

    Good morning, my little ones

    Jean-Paul Sartre
    died or at least news of it
    reached me while in the bath after
    a weekend in Suffolk
    visiting The Otter Trust and some relatives
    near Bury St Edmunds
    who weren't in.
    It was the era of just popping in, just
    passing by, incomp-
    rehensible now

    I was filthy, really
    needed that bath. Back then we
    took one a week whether we needed
    it or not and I always
    had the radio on

    I'd not read him then - still
    haven't although I tried La
    Nausée
    once - but knew him as a legendary
    ref. slash fig. from my
    random teenage reading

    And was not yet aware that JP was
    tormented by visions of crabs (and lobsters)
    everywhere he went
    after taking mescaline in 1935
    which later inspired
    elements of his philosophical writing and plays

    They followed him down the street
    they sat quietly by his desk
    crustacean, hallucination

    Until finally he willed them away
    because they bored him



    Jean-Paul Sartre





    Every Man, or Woman, for Himself

    We finally
    fell out
    somewhere between Doncaster and Newcastle
    spoiling a 25-year record of sweetness unparalleled,
    scarce a cross word
    but this fissure was both critical and fiery

    The silent boiling and cross-eyed fuming nearly
    caused a derailment
    we both forgot what the cause was
    what was the cause what
    caused it it just didn't it just wasn't
    I forget exactly what. But

    The border had been crossed, and
    I made one last foolhardy approach
    at a humorous breaking of the
    ice: "Ah say, Ah say noo,
    we're in bonny Scotland
    can ye not extend a haun of kindness noo"

    But it acted like a punch to the gut
    not even worthy of a withering look

    My bad

    As they say.

    We pulled into Waverley, my
    mind reeling, would we need to arrange
    separate accommodations etc

    And how would we negotiate the
    Party Conference, as the
    so-called golden couple

    I grabbed my suitcase and saw there was a considerable
    leap required from train to platform
    talk about mind the gap this
    was more like a standing
    long jump, of which it happened I was
    a gold medallist
    (Devonian Games 2002) so my 
    ability to spring forth, and to
    bounce back
    would once more be tested

    Monday, 7 September 2026

    Unbearable, London, Feet, 1996, Mining

    Wasny much fun that summer all summer
    with ffun and friends at last
    kicking a foofbal-l-l-ohhhh Fußball foot
    any time you made contact with b-b-ball
    o-o-o-hhh owowowow now in your
    [five years at least passed] prime
    in misc London parks Hyde Holland Green also Clissold
    where you saw Kieran the Intimidating
    once known from **not now another time**

    The thing was your feet spec. to drill
    down your toes in part. yr big left TOE
    was crossyeed under the hammer of misfortune NAIL

    My mother was once also famously it's all
    relative under suffrance of the ingrain nail
    as I believed it called why are you even
    bothering to correct me

    'Ooh Lee I got an ingrain toenail' she'd say
    while dragging on a Senior Service
    'I got to go in hospitals for
    three days like Sybil'
    yeah also with a wheelchair
    it's knot 1975 any more MOTHER

    But when I graduated to fellow en-
    grained suffrer state it was an afternoon
    ride to East Finchley for a poke and scrape
    Jamiroquai on the radio and
    hopple back the to the station laddy (for free)
    in green Converse never the best choice

    Anaesthetised up to a reasonable point
    I was reading K-Pax can't do that now
    - Is K-Pax based on a true story?
    - What did the ending of K-Pax mean?
    I was listening to Beautiful Freak yeah
    so what on my Walkman

    Five stops later, sitting in the back room
    with a name long since deleted from my memoir
    who had a no nail-op patience policy
    a stance a pos. I had to respect
    it wasn't in the excuse me sympathy fuck zone

    So with throbbing afoot beyond a reasonable point
    we drank drank rank vodka#
    till I forgot I even had legs##
    or toes or a body###
    OR EVEN YOU COME ON NOW ####

    And now those days
    + MY FEET
    are long gone

    Defending the city against a horde of invading undead

    You (don't) have to hate slash fear them
    sabre rat zombie slash reapers
    popping batlike to gobble radioactive trash
    such silver edgelords they

    think they're so special and maybe they are
    sneaky creeps you need to eliminate
    better do it fast before they get all

    rapido flying and screeching
    right up in your grill
    with the spewing of poison
    and the fury slashing 

    while you try to reload
    you stare into their serrated gut carriage
    and the next thing you know



    Shithead




    (not) PUNK ROCK SONG FOR (not) CRASS TO (not) SHOUT

    ALL DAY LONG PISSING SO MUCH PISSING
    ALWAYS PISSING SLASH SLASH SLASH
    SOMTIMES SHITTING BUT MAINLY PISSIN
    SPEND MY TIME DOING THIS THING CALLED
    PISSING AWAY TIME PISSING JUTS
    PISSING YOUR LIFE AWAY DUT DUT
    PISSING YOUR LIFE AWAY DUT DUT
    NOTHING CLEVER ABOUT IT JUST PISS
    TILL THE GRAVE COMES THEN YOULL WISH ONE MORE
    TIME TO GO PISSING YOUR LIFE AWAY DUT DUT
    AT LEAST SOMETHING IN CMON WIX|THX
     
    SHOUT ABOUT THE INDIGNITY CHRIST THE
    PISSING INDIGNITY BUT PAUPERS AND KINGS ALIKE
    LET IT OUT AT LEAST BE PROUD TO BE PART
    OF THE PISS CLASS CROWD CMON EVEN YOU
    CANT BE ABOVE PISSING LIKE SOME LORD KRISHNA
    SUCH DELUSIONS ARE A BETRAYAL
    OF YOUR FIZZ CLASS BASED BEING
    BE PROUD OF YOUR ENDLESS PISSING
    FROM YOUR PEASANT PEEHOLE
    IF ITS UP AGAINST THE WALL OR IN THE BED 
    DONT BE ASHAMED OF YOUR HUMAN NATURE
    PISS LIKE A LADY OR
    PISS LIKE A RACEHORSE
    ADMITIT SUMBIT IT YOU BEEN NOTHING 
    BUT A PISS MACHINE ALL YOURLIFE

    Sunday, 6 September 2026

    Ascension Bridge

    Languishing, heard a Call To Action for
    a new game show on Progressive TV
    (cable channel 449)

    Rearrange a lost song for three instruments
    "in the style of" with all the usual
    parameters applied and you may nominate one close contact

    I chose the frockless Friar Rouse
    low priest of the 16-volume aerophone
    we had in mind the Yes song
    Morning Capture don't
    bother looking it up. Moraz era
    modus Debussy, our research was
    negligible bordering on the extensive
    the nichest of the niches

          Vivid orchestration
          Melodic brilliance
          Hints of exoticism

    Lost the bidding war for the cheat music
    lost the rights to the performing rotunda
    this was an uphill struggle and we were
    soon wriggling with crabs

    Rouse 'Rabbie please' full of encourage
    acquired a tempus root - perfectly legit -
    and we were back among the front runners
    all we needed now was a sniff of the dust
    and we'd be conveying, relaying

    I'd been channelling the Voice
    for decades, on the not even off chance
    as the crabs were finally
    brought under control

          Uniquely bold
          Spontaneous energy
          Strong - rapid - integrated

    Few recall the spectacle of Rouse and me
    yanking steam-fragmented sounds
    from both past and future
    skipping the here and now. Our title
    was Ascension Bridge and victory was
    of no consequence

    Friday, 4 September 2026

    You have drawn a girl

    In 78,759 BCE, in the Nile Valley,
    near present-day Cairo, a girl was born
    whose name is lost to history.

    Her band was about 30 people strong.
    Her dwelling was a brush or grass windbreak.
    She was the sixth of six children.
    Her father died when she was 22,
    her mother when she was 38.

    She ate largely wild sedge tubers,
    wild waterfowl, Nile catfish and tilapia,
    and wild greens and reed shoots,
    with wild figs in season.

    She stood some 159 cm tall (5 ft 3 in).

    Of the twelve children she had, four boys
    and a girl survived past childhood. Her journeys
    took her no farther than 6 days' walk,
    to the far edge of the band's seasonal range.

    She spoke an unrecorded prehistoric language
    and followed animism and shamanism.
    She spent her days as a gatherer of
    wild plants and small game.

    She lived 54 years, dying of
    a respiratory infection.
    Her line came to four grandchildren.


    Nile Arabic Female 50-64










    https://anyhumanever.com/

    Eruption during the cleansing ceremony (1963)

    Did you see
    the vivid, prolonged twilight glows
        long-lasting deep, fiery
        red sunset colours

    Did you see
        stratospheric dust stripes
        a volcanic aerosol haze and
    the sunlit illuminated, visible
    bands in the twilight arch

    A brilliant arc of lavender, pink
        and fiery orange
    rising from the west

    And well into the night was
    the light strong enough to cast
    distinct shadows on the ground 

    Did you notice how
        during the great catastrophe
    the sky simply did not look right
    Losing its crisp, deep blue appearance
    turning more milky 
        chalky, some say turbid
        sometimes, a Bishop's Ring

    An early indicator
       of the aerosol blanket
       which cooled the planet for a year

    Do you remember
    those months when
    global winds spread a veil
    around the world




    Mount Agung eruption 1963


    Thursday, 3 September 2026

    Round, oval, square, heart

    A fringe will help
      raucous laughter not but
    a fringe will cover up
      a prosecco clock multitude
    red no I want to say auburn

      Americans are wary
        maybe a parting will help
    what if I'm on the telly
    with my fringe will it
    make me look
      with their bangs
    younger or older
      they became the Bangles

    I think a fringe could help
      but what if I'm 40? will
        what then how will it help
     call my stylist Jacques he
       can work wonders

    Eight million spirits

    And every one of them lol'd
    or is it lolled at Hugo when he
    took a tumble
    when he went a over t
    by the O-torii Gate
    and ended up splashing down
    into the muddy sand but

    The best part was the crab
    they absolutely peed
    theyself at that
    the old Yaoyorozu

    Poor old Hugo layed out soaked
    and this raging crustacean nipping at
    his nose now you're
    embellishing if not out
    right inventing, like the boy

    Wasn't a laughing stock
    before he even got off
    the boat

    Tuesday, 1 September 2026

    Losing the will to live

    They said he had idlers disease
    but chronic fatigue and
    fatal weakness
    was as real as the atomic bomb

    He was genuinely ill and exhausted
        radiation sickness
    he was treated with cold disdain
        derogatory treatment

    Suffering from
    invisible effects since the flash
    that changed the world

    Profound psychological
    and physical distress

    He would writhe in unbearable
    agony; an endless, vicious cycle

    Destruction of your family, your
    work, your city followed
    by discrimination and
    rejection from your
    own people

    Every hospital sent him away
    classified him as a mental patient

        one hundred scars

    Lung warfare

    Take a picture now zoom in
    on those delicate scarlet blommers
    filling a corner of the post-
    event reception

    Impossible spores calculated to infect
    and occupy my specific lymphatics

    Foreign agents, reagents
    somehow they knew my latent
    susceptibility
    to the trumpet particulate

    I was a man on a mission
    arousing suspicion
    I really did complete
    the marathon but now I would struggle
    to finish my sentence

    Monday, 31 August 2026

    Ethical concerns

    The crab he destroyed his packaging
    yes
    he tore through the plastic wrap
    with his claws
    YES
    the crab is free

    - Can he be our pet now?

    - A crab is not a pet.

    - But we can't cook him now.

    - I suppose not.

    - Not now he's exscaped.

    - Escaped. But he - or she - 
        has earned its freedome.


    Friday, 31 July 2026

    Office Christmas Party, I Forget Which Year

    To save money and because we were all so
    Key worker busy shifting through the festive period

    The grand project the big launch
    We'd hardly decorated the office and
    Held no celebrations there

    Dirty laundry in my cabinet
    Stuffed below a stack of microwave snacks

    I'd barely ventured outside in weeks
    No time to visit the parents, such a
    Great excuse, working right up to the chimes
    Sober as the days were long

    Someone started vacuuming at five minutes past
    Another kip on the camp bed beckoned

    Some messages pinged on my phone
    Old friends, your mum and dad, then
    An unknown number reading:

    hi lov e yuo bu t
    we cantt b fr einds ny mor e
    hapy new ye r
    wi ll neve r forg t th ose time sx

    And I won't get any older

    The overpowering even through
    the car window of the farmyards and
    muck spreading in Hampshire fields
    as a new song comes on the radio
    about a man who used to be disgusted

    I'd recently become obsessed with
    every new song and all the old songs
    a thrilling addiction that
    lit up my developing brain along
    side the horrifying surges of puberty
    with much sprouting and eruptions
            I tried to be amused

    But how long can you hold your breath and
    pretend none of this is happening
    the horrors of school briefly paused
    now the immersion in family conflict
    can be resumed, and how long

    Will this stench continue, it's
    right in the back seat with me and
    my oblivious sister
    in the days before seatbelts
    on the way to grandma's
    for the summer holidays it's
    as if the filth will cling to me forever

    Same as the man on the radio with
    the unlikely name who's done some kind of
    deal with the devil even if he talks
            of angels



    Ha ha ha


    Wednesday, 29 July 2026

    Every minute more

    Only deepens the humiliation
    just know this
    when a person
    tries to fight back
    against severe degradation
    using aggression
    or retaliation
    it often fails
    to restore power
    and instead only deepens
    the humiliation the
    severe degradation

    locking the victim
    further into
    a painful cycle
    of powerlessness
    and conflict
    to preserve the memory
    to bear witness
    to take revenge
    severe degradation

    Just know this
    Jesus said that everyone
    who exalts himself
    will be humbled, and
    he who humbles himself
    will be exalted
    to take revenge
    and seek justice
    or ultimately
    to forgive
    severe degradation


    Beau Is Afraid


    She learned to express

    Untitled
    woman of braided steel
    raised by parents
    recurring themes
    drawings of fading memories
    who ran who helped

    one of the great figures
    iconic
    drypoint and etching
    Do You Love Me?
    rendition of the encased couple
    etching in red
    I Love You
    that was our punishment
    a deep focus tapestry
    iconic

    Do You Love Me?
    explore materiality
    twinrocker paper support
    a gifted student
    a gift of love
    in the workshop
    I wanted to love
    on wove paper
    restoration business
    estimate USD 60,000
    explore gender norms
    transform love
    freighted with meaning
    initialled in pencil
    into hate iconic
    raised by parents
    to love you more

    the depths of
    how can I be you
    tenderness and trauma
    red boot-like figures
    I Wanted to Love You More
    her own psychology
    emptied of it
    renowned literary translator
    the words "we love you"
    iconic
    rising from water in a circle
    to her friend
    removed under data protection
    raised by parents
    free delivery over £1,000

    her friend and assistant
    raised by parents
    I wanted to love
    untitled
    she also helped out
    explains the childhood
    to lo ev yo u mo r e



    Louise Bourgeois


    Monday, 20 July 2026

    On the rebound

    So many times I tried
    to get through to you
    trampoline friends are not real friends
    you can't rely on them
    you will not survive the
    tough times with them. Now

    How can you expect me
    to go with you to their
    bouncing jamboree, or the
    thanksgiving tumbling party

    I don't roll like that
    I won't somersault for you
    And I'll say it again your
    trampoline friends are not real friends

    Down time

    We were just normal men
    goofing off in the office
    in our private lives
    in our personal times
    Gavin and let's call him Lee
    mid-level digital warriors
    for the camera sported
    oversized red bucket hats
    just a couple of gorms
    covered by cheap millinery
    we sent the cropped
    screenshot to the group chat
    using the anon option
    asking have you seen these
    suspicious bucketheads
    all in our off duty lives
    all in the lunchbreak times
    we asked the Q and came back
    the A that one's Lee! yes
    that's definitely him, we
    recognise that old turkeyneck
    don't need to see - in fact
    would rather not see - his
    maroon prune fizz
    obscured by bucket don't
    forget zoom at five

    Friday, 17 July 2026

    Barbecues I never had

    If I was a dad
    I'd have the Best Dad Ever written on my
    big golden daddy of a mug
    and glug my tea out of it
    make it extra sweet, just like me

    If I was a dad
    I'd be the best dad those kids ever had
    make my own five-a-side team
    we'll go boy boy girl girl boy
    then I think we'd better stop there

    If I was a dad
    I'd bring home the bacon,
    I'd win the bread
    but you can't drive my car,
    you won't get in my head

    If I was a dad
    I'd be the kind of dad that gave the other dads
    a good run for their money
    keep them on their toes
    put them in their place
    to be fair. I'd be a very fair dad
    up to a point and you'll never
    be sure where that point begins
    or ends

    If I was a dad
    you could be my wife and you'd love
    every minute of our life, I swear
    I'd treat you like a princess
    unless you disappointed me in any number of ways
    and then you'd see
    a very different side of me

    If I was a dad
    I'd enjoy a laugh as much as the next man
    but if you mistake that for weakness
    you'll discover I'm not
    the forget and forgiving kind

    I'll be very firm but very fair
    justice must be seen to be done
    no one comes at the daddy

    If I was a dad
    I'd be all for equal rights but
    at the same time
    I will wear the trousers
    and I will wear the pants
    it's not so complicado
    this daddy's numero uno

    Tavern Legend

     You're fired

    -SLAM!-

    Help her?

    - Thank you!

    - I am completely drenched

    a Towel b Comb c Sponge

    - I'm feeling better.

    - I still feel very cold.

    a Match b Clothes c Hot Water

    Interesting...

    - I want to drink something hot.

    a Hot Tea b Ice Drink c Hot Milk

    - Are you serious?

    - You don't really want to help me.

    Interested ✓ Not interested? x

    Install

    Choose your own adventure

    Wouldn't you submit to the lioness
    prowling in her pearl dress
    present yourself seasoned and
    diced for her delectation if
    she only possessed the
    unfurled
    inclination
    of the unreasonable

    Saturday, 11 July 2026

    Standard Pause Notation

    Admiration for Linguistic Stillness
    Suspicion of Performative Gestures

            minor cessation (;)

    Bring forth the Chronometer of Gaps
    Discard the Chronometric Spectroscope

            emphatic hush (_)

    Unshackle your Percussive Oscillator
    Consult the Gazetteer of Gaps

    Do not commit Chthonic Signage heresy
    The Petrified Whisper is a lie

            perceptual void (∅)

    Begone ye geosymbolists, retire
    to your Obsidian Depths

            calibrated lapse (◬)

    Medical Emergency Song

    I got a sebaceous cyst
    a lump as big as your fist
    got so much sebum it makes me sick
    dome-shaped bump, and really thick

    I require medical attention
    cause my life's in suspension
    my oil-producing gland
    is really getting out of hand

    Sebaceous
    it stops me being flirtatious
    sebaceous
    full of pus and capacious

    Sebaceous cyst
    I've never been kissed
    sebaceous cyst
    do you get the gist
    sebaceous cyst
    you won't be missed
    sebaceous cyst
    you're not on my shopping list

    It's a source of distress
    a cause of some tenderness
    it's an epidermoid issue
    and I really won't miss you
    when you're surgically excised
    I'll feel more civilized
    farewell keratin protein
    no more skin like a baked bean

    Sebaceous
    oh how to stop it
    sebaceous
    you better not pop it


    Ximhart xo Xantaven (1980 or 1981)

     Xor xi xyor xansar

          xedoprah xingtab xolokning

    xrak xoffe xincea xargo

    xuvvakra xeelgo xaarpo xybe xefels

          xissnaa xibbotah


    xyo xanna xamak - xingbat -

    xaam xoonor xohxex xorgle

          xexi xubble xatt xraxak

                - xubxab -


    xohxex xararu xublut

          (xurla xorkral)

    xwepgo xax xijnab

          (xiffer xoober)

    xanderxoon xin xassfapooha


    xamuro xip xuplugg

          xodro xratbee

    xohxex xiste xantena xaura

          xok xakamara

    xak xes xing xyo


    xorfa xo xamo xaxilling

          xrof xelango xo xymo

          xraxax xak xodron

    xarxa ximhart xo xantaven


    All the Trimmings

    Joe hadn't spoken to anyone in three months
    weekends shut in, and now the festive period
    was crawling into view
    with dread in its locks and bleakness in his house

    Joe forced himself to go for a walk,
    on such a cold and winter's day,
    down to St Luke's
    he would never venture inside,
    he wasn't that desperate
    but there was a glowing structure in the grounds
    strangely alluring in the afternoon gloom
    maybe a nativity scene
    it couldn't hurt to take a closer look
    find some minor amusement at the tableau
    of angels and farmyard animals

    Joe was too close to turn back when he realised
    it was just a hut selling Christmas trees
    'Can I help you mate?'
    for Christ's sake he couldn't just leave
    and he wasn't in the market for a
    mansized fir companion
    'Last few remaining mate, I can do you
    a very reasonable deal'

    Joe opened his voice and tried to explain
    his vision of the nativity and
    how he didn't really celebrate Christmas
    'I get it mate, I really do. We should
    focus on the core message and ignore all
    the modern sideshow. Even I can see that.
    Tenner each though. All gotta go.'

    Joe lugs his mansized fir companion
    back up the road. Might as well
    buy a turkey now


    Tuesday, 7 July 2026

    Cute Paper Hedgehogs

    on closer inspection
    parents were horrified
    seemed like a kind gesture
    no malice involved
    a man approached
    an older man
    just a mistake
    unsettling encounter
    Merseyside police
    normally checked the pages
    crafted the little creations
    pure sexual stuff
    Nicholson Baker

           𝄐

    grabbed a middle page
    absolutely obsessed
    received a hedgehog
    and a furry nose
    came across a Facebook post
    no offences have been committed
    seven other families
    it was adult content
    eager to get their hands
    parents were so concerned
    taken home a hedgehog
    a carrier bag full of them
    mortified by the mistake
    handing them to children
    made them at home as a hobby
    made from explicit pages
    ran upstairs and grabbed
    for a local charity
    pure sexual stuff
    Nicholson Baker

           𝄐

    complete with googly eyes
    created in good faith
    only some contained
    sister being murdered
    handmade creations distributed
    explicit content
    their hands on a hedgehog




    Paper hedgehog




    Monday, 6 July 2026

    I want to reach the final with you

    We came through the lengthy qualifying group
    playing home and away, at first
    some glorious wins followed
    by a narrow squeak, a stalemate
    and one or two disappointments it has to be said

    We weren't the best
    but we weren't the worst

    Everyone would agree that
    improvements had to be made
    tactical tweaks, some fresh energy
    could help
    but let's not panic

    We made it through the group stage with ease
    solid performances all round
    some of it was cagey and
    may have lacked for excitement
    but we got the job done, you know
    at this stage
    it's all about
    getting the
    job done, it's certainly no
    time to panic

    Some sniped where's the flair, where are
    the thrills we were promised
    but you know at this level
    it's a results business
    this isn't a Hollywood movie, it's
    real life, you just
    keep plugging on

    There were some calls for radical change
    but we've come this far
    with a solid defence, so
    we can afford to ignore the small voices

    We must stick together -
    team spirit, hard work,
    trust in the process -
    see the job through to the bitter end

    Quarter-finals, semi-finals
    waiting for the knockout

    I'm in it for the duration
    I'll cope with red cards
    I'll deal with the injuries
    I'm ready for penalties

    I want to reach the final with you



    Brackets


    Saturday, 4 July 2026

    My latest misadventures

    Why always me, I thought as the last-remaining
    Alcott barrier on the London network
    clamped down on my back, it
    was an honest midjudgement on my part
    I'm sure they'll - ouch.

    Extrication was an impossible task,
    there was an ineffectual flailing of limbs
    and a plaintive cry 'Excuse me. Can somebody help?'

    Boots I saw muddy boots and a sarcastic
    ha-ha look at this one
    flapping like a crab with its claws taped up
    you know the penalty for Fare Evasion son

    Sir I am 57 years old.

    We all saw you on CCTV trying to
    scuttle under the Alcott
    she's an unforgiving mistress isn't she?

    What the hell. Can you just release -

    My partner of course was nowhere to be seen,
    and I could hardly blame her. She didn't need
    to get mixed up in another one of my escapades
    what with her professional standing. We would laugh
    about it one day, maybe later this
    very day, over a nice casserole and a glass of vino

    * * * *

    I'd purchased the not
    inexpensive can of Qhoopass™ for an occasion such as this
    popped the flap to see the liquid iron filings
    slurp and assemble rather pleasingly, then ascend
    my enemy's leg his chunky faux leather clad
    treetrunk leg. Now, I thought, he
    will rue the day. Oh he will rue it.
    So long as he withheld his disbelief
    long enough for the patent Qhoopass™
    congealing process to render him paramagnetified 

    * * * *

    My pride and joy allotment crater
    had flooded, so I tried to rescue the
    latest cucumber crop. 

    First things first I should alert my tidy wife
    but the burning sun and the floods, the
    exponential fruit and vegetable growth
    it was all too much really. Whatever
    you do don't panic

    Stuffed some of my proud cucumber in my mouth
    my fat mouth to test its resilience. A moist chew
    and most delish to use a word my wife hated

    I was going to offer a cutting of
    this fast growing heritage gourd
    to Annette my co-worker
    but right now yes I should warn the others

    To lend myself some dignity I donned
    a straw hat and my vintage t-shirt
    the one sporting the legend
    Canned Iron Comedian
    we all liked the way it hung on my dadbod

    The water was rising and my top was wet
    tried to pull it off over my head
    but it got trapped in the straw hat
    my mouth full to choking with fruit
    or was it a vegetable, and I recalled

    The words wise words of Wolsey: All
    human activity is meaningless, and
    struggle is futile boy

    Some local children had spotted my pool
    and began to frolic, good for them

    * * * *

    But once she found it charming the sweet talk
    and the queer slang I used

    She said you big dummy don't you see
    how the whales and elephants
    are looking down on us from their jungle perch

    She was convinced they were spying on us
    something to do with the refraction of light
    nacreous clouds, the fata morgana

    At first it seemed quirky cute later
    frankly insane, plus she had the temerity
    to say they were trying to burn the five statues
    of our heroes the great ones our champions
    the five true statues we'd been searching for all our lives

    We had never been told their names
    why do your sky creatures have it in for those guyz
    oh, she said, you know they're guyz

    I needed some new vocabulary to
    pull down the ropes from the skyline

    Friday, 3 July 2026

    Ivory Power more like

    The decision of granting of tenure is a life long commitment
    Oooooh I'm up for tenure mur mur muh

    I left teaching because I couldn't get tenure
    I stopped worrying about tenure
    So it looks like I got my tenure

    The rules have saddled colleges
    with self-indulgent prima donnas
    elbow-patch eggheads and smug becardiganed twerps
    who seem to think they're philosopher kings

    Checklist, I never leave home without
    One, my laser pointer with five settings
    it's a real ice-breaker with the sophomores

    Tenure can be used as a club to wield against the powerless
    O me! O life! I'm having a mid-term crisis
    I mean, I have tenure. I really can say whatever I want

    Two, reference management software
    i.e. EndNote to manage libraries

    Tenure in any department is a serious business
    His tenure review is in three months
    It means, essentially, employment for life
    You can't get fired, even if you're bad at it?
    He's trying to get an article in print
    What does Gopnik say?

    I mean, I have tenure and it's a terrible idea
    Well I'm up for tenure this fall
    I really can't say whatever I want

    Three, leather bound notebook
    it adds a touch of olde worlde class
    yet remains entirely blank

    I can really say whatever I want
    I'm up for tenure at Columbia!
    It keeps them around forever and they don't have to work hard
    What does Gopnik think?
    I'll be up for tenure in a few years. Does that count?

    Four, my periodic table temperature-controlled mug
    gifted me by a fellow Nobel Laureate

    Professor Thurber loves to teach
    but I really didn't want to become a professor
    or get tenure or even teach or even exist

    Maybe we don't have to wait for tenure. Maybe we
    just say goodbye yellow brick road goodbye Harvard
    or maybe we just have to wait to wait to wait for tenure

    Five, I like to wear the full gown, hood, Tudor bonnet regalia
    my track record of astronomical research
    deserves a certain ceremonial grandiosity

    I probably shouldn't be saying this on TV, but
    a dual monitor setup is de rigueur
    sure a stylus tablet, the stream deck and
    to the extent that tenure supports ergonomic peripherals
    a high-end USB microphone, and academic freedom, I support tenure

    "I'm a tenured professor"
    Congratulations. I'm so happy for you
    Professor Thurber swears by Hagoromo fulltouch chalk and yet
    the academic tenure process stands in the way of great research
    Oh Donald you don't have to tell me about
    the dramas played out in academic departments

    I have a tenure joke, but you won't get it

    Pluracy

    Taylor Swift (Irish accent)

    Taylor Swift (Japanese accent)

    Taylor Swift (Scottish accent)

    Taylor Swift (French accent)

    Taylor Swift (Australian accent)

    Taylor Swift (Italian accent)

    Taylor Swift (Jamaican accent)

    Taylor Swift (German accent)

    tˈeɪlɚ swɪft (unintelligible accent)

    Taylor Swift (Dutch accent)

    Taylor Swift (Irish accent again)

    Taylor Swift (Swedish accent)

    Taylor Swift (Spanish accent)

    Taylor Swift (Russian accent)

    The gang gets the technology

    The gang reassembles in the old flat
    it's not an apartment or a condo Mehgun
    in superliminal munculate mode
    due to the archetypal limbo state discovered
    back in 2050 by the Lunar HoloMonks

    ElVee proudly displays an apple
    box of tiny green lightbulbs
    'You remember these, they're collectors items'
    he gathered from the wreckage of the house next door

    He thinks there's a market for everything
    but he's the market. 'You're the market buddy'

    Later sat in Loop's room with a floral IPA
    I point out their window at the new shops
    which were once shady lock-ups. They're in
    a low mood 'They just sell trash'

    Try to lift them up 'Maybe I want to buy trash'
    They jab back 'You can certainly afford it, all that
    cash under your mattress'

    The dynamics are the same, the main difference
    is we have a Skiv-0h for the washing up. Mehgun says
    'doing the dishes' of course. She's visiting as usual,
    stays long weekends at least half
    the week never any suggestion of paying rent
    but I've learned to keep my fat lip shut

    Something's off and I try to voice a thought
    about cheap nanosurgeons who fail their Grade One
    stitch class but ElVee waves me away
    'That's such a 1986 thought, you
    can't live in the past' but that's
    exactly the point

    It was (certainly not) the worse of times
    wait a minute, it was always the worst
    once we had t-shirts printed up
    reading We are the Worst after the Dean's remark

    The fire in the swimming pool.
    'The corpse in the shopping trolley'
    adds ElVee. 'And the bomb that
    definitely wasn't a bomb!' pipes up Mehgun

    She suggests taking
    the aeriolator to the newmarket
    see if anyone wants our vintage lightbulbs

    Loops still likes to squeeze my shoes,
    always with the shoe envy
    'Green - felt' he murmurs
    'They're not for sale.'

    Their grandson avatar has popped up
    naturally I point out these munchkins
    are illegal now. Loops says it's a mere residue and
    Bobin is pure fog which can't be detected

    But 40 years ago or 40 years ahead
    even if we are the worst I say
    let's all make up and be fuzzy friends again

    Thursday, 2 July 2026

    Beanstock Festival

    Bean Day were the headliners
    Haricot Styles, Fava John Misty
    you get the picture (yes we see)

    He enjoyed them all
    but he never found his way back
    he's been driving round the car park
    looking for a way out
    in a clapped out cracked up tractor

    He's been living off black beans baked beans kidney beans
    they never held the festival again so he
    can dust the crops with the gift of methane

    He's been bin diving for rags and tools
    his one-man tent has seen better days
    his bin diving in a ditch
    his bin diving in a foxhole
    has rendered him unrecognisable
    even unto himself yes
    we've all seen better days

    He's been living off soy beans butter beans broad beans
    he's been sick he's been well he's been
    to heaven and he's seen hell

    He's seen sunshine and he's seen rain
    treated both of them with disdain
    he's been better but haven't we all
    and he's been down so long
    it feels like up to him

    He's been living off and in and under the land
    he reckons he's got another 25 years in him
    the festival of survival is second nature
    the spectacle of surprises will never end

    Wednesday, 1 July 2026

    The Zelkova Tree

    I think that I shall never see
    anything like the Zelkova tree

    A tree which sits on Dulwich Common
    it's been added to Google maps
    native to Japan, this foreign
    import has led some to rhapsodise
    about its charms - 'splendid, awesome
    with a muscular fluted trunk'

    Others are less impressed
    with this 200-year-old guest

    'good tree'
    'adequate tree'
    'I mean its a tree innit'

        'Just the tree
        near the park
        and near the road'

    Tuesday, 30 June 2026

    A tortoise named Winston Churchshell

    music to vibe out to
    modo fac tincan folklore
    quirly-candy-toy sound
    Electric Chariot section
    smoking the green stuff

    there are people who will read the Bible
    pure kosmische musik energy
    this is what an apple tastes like?
    I may have a problem

    a small journey to just getting baked
    and drawing stuff trippin' like a butterfly
    every place that you can imagine
    oh my nihilism - is this canon?
    like some lost artifact or memory

    music to groove to, almost like a great book
    for the first time and walk away
    at 10:27 I start to ascend
    difficult to listen to where this feels broken
    First Dance Wedding Tune 

    I'm believing every word, music to get lost in
    honestly the best song
    whale speaks of all time not even kidding
    kicking ass all choppy and shit
    in these fast times that we live in

    I guess if you were a weed head in the 90s
    and grew up with divorced parents
    and had no culture or responsibility
    and your head was lost in a cloud of pot smoke
    this song met your low expectations



    Djed Spence







    Sunday, 28 June 2026

    Nothing saddest me more as a fan of my big stompys

    The unfortunate reality
    of truly giant robots
    is that nearly every material you can imagine
    behaves like jelly
    at large enough scales

    Not if they made with unjellyfunium

    Even buildings? Yes mass
    dampeners exist specifically
    to counter-jiggle because they wobble in the wind

    The square-cube law
    is one of the real Buzz Killingtons of physics

    Discovered this ages 10 
    building truss bridges
    out of tape and drinking straws

    This is why the truly giant ones
    are made from psychic energy

    My cat walked across one of my bridges
    and I was like holy crap plastic straws
    seem stronger than steel for their size

    It will be different when we discover
    the super space alloy and power it
    with the super space energy rays
    that will make everything work like I dream

    The unfortunate reality
    of truly giant robots
    is that nearly every material you can imagine
    behaves like jelly
    at large enough scales

    You don't make the giant mega ship,
    you make many small ships

    That's what my brain says anyways,
    but my heart says giant robots are cool

    This is why the Magazord uses
    five smaller robots to mitigate this effect

    Like if you think about it,
    planets behave like liquid
    over a billion years

    This is why we need either
    Gundanium alloy OR the Dead Sea Scrolls

    I once prefabbed a straight run of 120’ of 4” steel pipe
    for a welder. Took 10 guys to get it in the trench.
    It bowed like a piece of spaghetti

    It's fine just replace the bushings
    in the leg joints every 1.4 miles

    Time for peanut butter robot

    The unfortunate reality
    of truly giant robots
    is that nearly every material you can imagine
    behaves like jelly
    at large enough scales

    That's why the ultimate giant robot is made
    from the energy of Man's indomitable will to live

    Failure in your relativistic dynamic compression
    members propagates at almost the same speed you can warn of it

    But you can build some robots
    of unusual size using
    monocrystalline diamond

    We just need to keep the robots
    at human size and shrink all the people

    Then why don't mountains flop like an jelly


    https://x.com/ashlee3dee/status/2068346914081259783

    Corned Beefs

    I will sneer at you if you say these things:

    To be pacific
    For all intensive purposes
    Doggy-dog world
    Mute point
    On tender hooks
    Pass mustard
    Cold slaw
    Damp squid
    Old-timer's disease
    Off the beat and track
    Take it for granite
    Takes two to tangle
    Chester draws
    Wheelbarrel
    Dull as dishwater
    Old wise tale
    Expresso
    Escape goat
    In one fowl swoop

    And I will sneer at you if you write these things:

    Baited breath
    Bare witness
    Tow the line
    Illicit a response

    But I will congratulate you if you say these thing:

    Skellington

    My authentic self

    I just tell it like it is
    I will say boo to a goose
    I'll upset the applecart
    I call it refreshing honesty
    others say I'm a toxic tart

    Like, like if you don't like
    my opinion I have others
    I'm very much what-you-see-is-what-you-get

    My other half gets me
    I'm lacking in tact and
    deficient in guile while
    he's the honey, I am the marmite

    We go together like sugar and spite
    like rama lama fa fa fa so
    I'm far too salty, he's far too nice
    but playing nice never won the prize

    I paid the cost to be the boss
    I know they whisper I'm a jerk
    but somebody's got to pull the strings
    so pretty please
    let's get to fucking work

    Friday, 26 June 2026

    Father's Day Walk, Ornamental Canal System

    - Look it's the loneliest heron
      add it to your app.

    She means Merlin, meanwhile

    Oi kids! Look up!
        What.
    Put your phones down now and look up.
        Where daddy?
    In the flaming tree, look, before-
        What's up there daddy?
    It's a heron.
        What's that?
    A BIRD! Big bird.

    - Did you get it?
    - Yes I got it. Let's move on. 

    Exolinguistic Incident, 2038

    A Chinese businessman clutching a briefcase turns and asks me
    if he can walk to The Guardian offices from this stop.
    He has some important papers to deliver.
    And it must be done in person. He glances
    over his shoulder. I say no sir this is Victoria.
    Where does this train terminate?
    It stops at King's Cross.
    That's not what I asked.
    Yes but you could walk from there.

    I tire of his questions and fall asleep.
    The lack of oxygen down here. And it's
    all been so tiring lately don't you find.
    With the recent manifestations. The
    rumoured disappearances.

    I wake in a startle and slop off the tube
    two stops past my target. I half
    recognise the streets and feel confident
    if I keep walking I can find my way home.
    It's not dark yet but it's not light either.
    A gentle rain begins to fall.
    A bonfire aroma in the autumn evening.
    A sign on the bridge up ahead.

    Closer: it's wooden, domino shaped, pulsing and
    patterned artefact which emits a hum or drone.
    They say the pulses and hums are trying to tell us something.
    I have a free app on my phone for just such an occasion.
    It's called Rankgor don't ask me why.
    Such signs had been manifesting recently.
    Go ahead and interpret this, I mutter.

    We kept hearing about the signs
    but this was my first sighting. The app seemed
    unable or unwilling to deliver a clear translation.
    So I took a picture which I could study
    if I ever got home. Once I got home.





    Thursday, 25 June 2026

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