God bless things multifunctional
and things that bring us glee
like my favourite mug - it can hold a KitKat
as well as gallons of tea

I hold you
you’re barely a minute old
all eyes, screams and unfounded dreams
wrapped tight like a sushi roll
 
you’re ten million karats of gold
I can’t bear to put down
I want to raise you above my head
parade you around the town
 
but before I burst out the chorus
of The Circle of Life
your mother smiles, sighs and says
“Al....not tonight.”
 
even if I can’t present you
to everyone like a king
I’ll just have to give you the world
and much more
my everything

sugar-soaked in Snapchat sepia
our expressions embellished like squashed licorice
a sticky tattoo on tattered sleeves
an exhibition of adolescence
 
smiles that should split our faces sore
                      bearing chattered gnashers
                                                gnawed from student anxieties
                                                                     stained from library coffee and
                                                                                                    polished by budget toothpaste
 
our salted skin doused in vodka
and coke – making the memory sweeter
with bar-time brothers
oblivious to the incoming traffic
 
I remember hearing the Wednesday swansong
“Don’t look back in anger”
I rarely do

​it’s evening
the rain is heavy
lamplights
on a cul-de-sac 
 
inside a bedroom
he feeds her chocolate
from the bedside table
already broken up
into little squares
the crumbs melt into the carpet
 
her eyes wander around the room
she communicates through nods
and tired smiles
 
hours pass
others enter and leave
asking if they could help
or if she needed anything
 
she gives off a dry cough
before clicking her tongue twice
 
he closes her eyes
and leaves to tell others 

My dozens of followers (okay - my very few) have probably seen this poem already on my Twitter feed from when I posted it last month. But hell - there's no harm posting it again on the actual blog. With the lingering smell of a US presidential election filling the air (which I imagine is a mixture of BBQ sauce and gunpowder) , I felt it was only fair to post a political poem to celebrate the occasion. A rather satirical look on it, but you can probably tell, I don't rate political leaders highly....

I’ll devote all of my remaining years
Sputtering lies you’d want to hear
With old clichés that’ll endear
Me to your worthless hearts.
 
I’ll act antibacterial clean,
Keep the posh and penniless keen
And suffocate what shan’t be seen.
These lips dare not impart
 
The treachery, the mulled treason,
The cabinet gossip of the season
Or half a single goddamn reason
For things I’ll do and have done.
 
And with all I’ve learnt from my BSc
And my stint in the school’s debating team
I’ll decide what should and shouldn’t be
As my word is second to none.
 
So come! Be leashed and follow me
Through creeks and coves of uncertainty.
Bow down onto a soiled knee
For your undependable son.

Did you enjoy this poem? Then why not check out my other poems here. And if you're feeling very generous, please do give this a like and a share on Facebook or Twitter. It'll warm my cockles it would.