SHROOMS

In woodland at night
out of sight
take a bite

to alter sight
make perception bright
hit the height

of expanded awareness
total unstress
begin to undress

dancing naked
elation led
inhibitions dead

the Faery Queen
no longer unseen
joins you in green

then multitudes
of cool dudes
with attitudes

impolitic
sixties relic
psychedelic

merging together
with purple heather
in stormy weather

becoming raindrops
pulling out stops
logic drops

through safety net
getting wet
beginning to fret

as spiders crawl
and lions maul
drowning you call

for antidote
or at least a boat
anything to float

away from here
where everything's queer
and turning to fear

beginning to run
reality's undone
was it only one

mushroom you ate
magical bait
that induced this state

perhaps by morning
comprehension dawning
you'll heed this warning

that ingesting shroom
your mind will groom
for utter doom

D.I. KERSEY

Based on my favourite episode of 'Wycliffe', entitled Happy Families...


When you hugged me,
you climbed inside my head:
implanted thoughts, some

impossible to fathom, like
winds blowing in
from another world

where the nightmare never happened.
I didn't murder my twin!
And you alone believed me.




Still I am the suspect you reluctantly keep
chained to the unthinkable,
a more than willing prisoner

of your Scottish/Cornish lilt:
hanging on to every syllable
that tingles through my veins.

Stop - that's divulging too much!
I hold out my hands to be cuffed,
wishing you'd take so much more...

But Superintendent Wycliffe descends -
a dour bird of prey.
Is his the last face I'll see this side of inside?

Doug...please don't leave me,
not like this, not here
with him - when there's so much I need to confess.

Oh, if only Ruth hadn't wound me up so.
Now, even in death she has power over me still,
for your eyes have suddenly turned cold...






 

COMPARISONS

For Joanne...


Oh why can I not be like you -
have come-to-bed eyes of cornflower blue
and golden curls that frame my face,
with never a hair out of place?

And how come you're so sexy and slim
whilst I am simply scrawny and thin?
It seems unfair that you possess
such dazzling charisma, while I'm a mess.

You're confident, clever and charming too,
that's why everyone's attracted to you.
They find you perfect and unique,
from your many talents to the way you speak.

Oh how I wish I had your grace
of movement and that perfect face.
Instead, I'm clumsy and quite plain,
so being me is such a pain.

Success in everything you do
is always a foregone conclusion for you,
whereas mediocrity
is all that can be found in me.

Lacking in confidence and wit,
compared to you I'm just some twit
who's going nowhere really slow.
How I wish my words, like yours, would flow.

For your literary genius inspires me so -
such eloquence I'd love to show.
Instead, I'm tongue-tied and lost for words:
you are whipped cream to my whey and curds.

My friend I adore you, truly I do,
but I cannot help being jealous of you
as it seems to me you have it all.
So I've made my entire life your call

by trying so hard to emulate you
(I'd love to be your clone, it's true),
but it never works, because still I'm me -
and that is all I'll ever be!
 

MAD DOG

I was bitten over a week ago, yes - I know,
and I'm shaking all over since the fight.
But at least I beat him that night,
good and proper - yes I did.
He certainly came a cropper!
Should've known better
than to challenge the district top dog.

Usually, at a time like this
I'd strut and swagger, impress the bitches.
But today, something's not right:
the ground feels funny - like
it's not really there, like
I'm trying to walk on air.
Yet...I can run faster than ever.
Just watch me go:
round and round in circles.
Can't seem to run straight anymore,
my feet have a will of their own.

But see how powerful I am!
They're all afraid of me -
even the humans.
Oh this is good.
I'm euphoric.
Or is this some kind of madness?
Suddenly I'm not at all sure.
Can't stop barking.
My voice is deafening, high pitched -
even to my own ears.
I'm so angry, feel impelled
to bite everyone, everything in sight.
This pressure in my head
snarls through my teeth,
and I'm so thirsty -
must find a puddle to drink from.

It's choking me!
I can't swallow.
The water swells up all white and frothy,
yet I'm dying of thirst.
I'm burning up,
can no longer even bark.
Humans are closing in around me now.
I keep hearing the word rabies.
For the first time in my life
I'm afraid - and desperate.
I lurch at one of them,
baring my teeth.

There's my master!
Oh such relief.
He'll take me home
and make everything alright.
I try hard to reach him,
but my legs refuse to obey.
They just buckle under me,
so I lie here in the road
and gaze imploringly into his eyes.
He takes a step towards me
as if to pick me up,
but instead raises his gun.
For a split second our eyes meet
and I see a tear glisten in the corner of his.
Then a bullet obliterates my brain.