Poem 1:
Charver
Aardman, souljaboy, with your guts hanging out,
A plastic doll hanging onto your arm with a swollen belly
Trouble on the homestead,
Pots and pans beating a steady rhythm on your skull,
Whatever, McDonald’s worker.
Sweating over a cold turkey,
Trying to warm it with smoke and dust,
Curled up crying in a shredded box
In your vintage Adidas,
No-one helps.
You wish you’d been kinder,
Wish you’d not ruined your life.
Your son disowns you,
Following his own path to success,
One that you slipped and slid down to the bottom of,
Like the slides you were so fond of calling your own,
Whoops.
But now I’m forced to ask,
“Aiight, mate?
Poem 2:
Six Feet Under (1st version)
Silence.
That’s all there is down here,
Nothing.
Only the worms and maggots keep me company whilst they gnaw on my flesh,
Tiny mouths all over me.
You don’t like to think about that, do you?
What it’s like down here, you put it out of your minds whilst making me presentable,
For what exactly?
Even though the body has passed its sell-by-date,
It’s important that I look ‘nice’
No room to twiddle my thumbs or read a magazine down here and
I can feel others like me all around, though I cannot communicate with them,
Their thoughts leak into the ground, staining it mysterious colours,
And when another joins us, we rejoice silently in our tombs
Sometimes it’s best if you don’t think about what it’s like down here, in the dark and the cold,
That way you can live your life to the full without wondering what’s to come,
What could happen.
But maybe if you do think about this, I advise you to bring something to read
You see, no matter who you are, your race, religion, height, gender,
You will all join us here,
Permanently,
Under the ground,
Six feet under.
Poem 3:
Six Feet Under (2nd version because I didn't like the 1st one)
“It won’t happen to me.”
Five words.
Everyone thinks them when they read the latest news,
“Oh, tragic, really, they seemed so nice.”
Murder, rape, car pile-ups, robbery, house fires, silly little mistakes,
“I’m glad that’ll never happen in our family.”
What makes you so sure?
When you cross the road without looking, walk to the shops in the pitch blackness, leave your car unlocked,
“I’ll only be 5 minutes!”
Really? Only five? Are you absolutely positive about that?
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Well, count the time, you might only be in and out of the shop/petrol station/dry cleaners but…
“But what? Why do you care anyway?”
Because I was also like you. Once.
I thought, it will never happen to me, never, not possible,
But it did.
One walk to the shops in the dark + one driver texting on their phone = well, you do the math
I never made it to the hospital.
My family found out at midnight,
A knock on the door,
A grim-faced copper,
They were asked to identify my body,
I watched them do that
My mother weeping, my father trying not to.
“They were the perfect child, our only.”
Ha.
Everyone who dies is ‘perfect’,
Have you noticed?
“He was the perfect husband.”
“She was the perfect daughter.”
“They were a perfect family.”
No-one is perfect. Ever.
Deal with it.
Everyone makes mistakes.
“But it’s okay as long as you learn from them.”
You can’t learn from your own demise, my friend,
It’s not possible.
You see, no matter who you are, your race, religion, height, gender,
You will all join us here,
Permanently,
Under the ground,
Six feet under,
R.I.P
Poem 4:
My Best Friend (this isn't one of my best ones)
My best friend
Has blood-red dripping eyes
With dark black centres
They stare lovingly at those around
Warming frozen souls
But not melting them
My best friend
Has pale white skin
With no obscene blemishes
It radiates the yellow caress
Of the sun
My best friend
Has dark black hair
Soft but matt
Like cat’s fur
Or a horse’s mane
My best friend
Grins constantly
Showing crystal teeth
They loved to smile
My best friend
Is very still
They look almost
Dead
They took my best friend
And locked them away
In a beautiful wooden box
And put them in a warm hole
To sleep
Forever
I miss my best friend
They knew me so well
But others say that what I did
Was insane
And I won’t be let out again
Maybe one of them can be my
New best friend
To keep me company in this place
But I need someone special
Someone
Warm and friendly,
What about you?
20 May 2011, 8:44 am
