Immediacy alludes power,
Glimpsed through slatted bits;
Drawn close we matter,
Yet power rests unmoved;
On the boldest shoulder,
Benumbed by glare;
Guns unaffected,
By people who care.
3 July 2013
Electrical illusion
1 July 2013
Patrons
Succumb, my loyal populace!
Line up and be defended;
Together I am stronger,
And my enemies extended.
My watchers are amongst you,
But fuss not at their goal;
Enjoy the playground made for you,
The freedom I bestow.
I tell you where all dangers lie,
You need not be afraid;
For every foe you know about,
Are traps already laid.
My strength lies in your weakness,
Your weakness in my power;
Critics flip as fawning patrons,
Come the zero hour.
27 June 2013
Data, power!
Clung on because I couldn’t let go,
Hung on because I could;
I daren’t delete, and nor dare you!
A disk for me, a hall, or two.
Our future but a hoarders’ folly,
Brought together without remorse;
Fragments here, remnants there,
Archived underneath the stair.
Trawled, collected, trapped and tapped,
Idle hunters gather prey;
Enough to feast for many years,
We are Big Data pioneers!
Made sense to all but everyone,
As truth defied the human state;
The logic held: it told a lie,
Made flawed men rich and rich men die.
Bootless bits can’t walk too far,
Can’t talk without a translator;
Latent bytes a spies best friend,
Revealed what, exactly, in the end?
Absorbing as confusion is,
Drawn together made no sense;
We sought to seek and built to scour,
In vain to harness data power.
14 June 2013
Civil, war
Sat high in the hills where love is norm:-
The basis for life, everyday.
Where the absence of love fuels a desire to love,
And love a desire to live.
Over, again, looking down on crater lakes;
On flora vivid in the equatorial sun.
Yet, unseen, deep in the valley, grouped and in convoy;
A void of permanent want.
Of fear, and poison;
Hatred flows and the cities crumble.
Cruel meager lives,
Punctuated only by acts of extreme violence.
The old man dreams of nothing but peace;
But his boys know nothing but war.
10 June 2013
Nobody will miss me
I can’t got home,
And I can’t stay here;
I have nowhere to hide…
My heart beats faster,
Each day lived in fear.
When the hit-man calls,
You won’t learn what I’ve done.
When the drone strike hits,
Nobody will miss me.
I spilled your secrets,
Put at risk your defence;
The valiant protectors of state,
Don’t like it up ’em;
At great expense,
They will get me;
With a bullet, a toxin,
A false charge or a blast;
I can’t hide.
Though I thought I could,
I can’t lay low;
The worst, worst option:
A nonentity erased.
Nobody will know,
So I’ll tell you myself.
The whole world can’t guard me,
But my guardians may witness,
How they destroy me.
7 June 2013
Written by hand
Send me a letter written by hand;
Ink won’t betray,
Or misunderstand.
In a land where they watch:-
Watch what you send;
And send what you watch:-
To see what you like.
Watch what you like,
To guess what you think…
Think what you read is their concern;
Concerned what you think, or what you might learn.
What you buy,
What you eat;
How you vote,
Who you meet…
What you spend,
What you earn;
So machines can learn.
Your fate laid out in trillions of dots;
Incomplete logic could cost you your job.
No credit,
No loans;
No access,
No-flying…
Remember this,
As the ink is drying.
30 May 2013
The 5th of May
On the 5th of May I didn’t wake up,
My eyes stayed shut and my kidneys packed up;
My lungs didn’t breathe and my bowels didn’t grind,
My ears heard nothing, and nor did my mind!
The broken fence, the creaky gate,
General repairs would have to wait;
I wasn’t about to paint the shed,
I couldn’t buy paint – because I was dead!
I’d slipped away, and I never knew;
Nobody told me my time was due!
The things I had planned mattered no more,
And Daisy slept with the angels, cos I didn’t snore!
11 May 2013
sycamore sawn
You, most roguish of sycamores
shall not escape the fate of your siblings
mown dead with the first spring growth
of the recovering lawn.
The sanctuary of the hedge
no longer available
when you looked above the parapet,
were spotted and now lie sawn.
You shall not be remembered.
4 May 2013
posters
No billboard just coffee table,
mostly words, laid bare,
open or not for interpretation,
initially free of stain, coffee or other.
posters
22 April 2013
One hundred and twenty two
One family,
one car;
one family car,
one forty-tonne truck.
One quarter,
of one percent;
of the annual price,
of one freedom.
One careless word,
one silly post;
one early morning knock,
one costly mistake.
One threat: eliminated;
one risk: unmitigated.
You remind me,
you protect me;
from threats,
I do not see.
One hundred and twenty two,
remind you;
of just one,
I do.
6 April 2013
no grave but the sea
ear shanty, ritual capstan strain
flag-crack sail hoist rope run
settle fair wind thirst atlantic swell
journey, unknown horizon, hope, doubt, trepidation
lead swinging three sheets
colours nailed yardarm awash
line crossed adrift
sun-scorched deck bleach doldrums
pump weathering tack
Eternal Father foaming deep rock tempest
No roses on a sailor’s grave
On a sailor’s grave there are no roses
On a seaman’s grave there bloom no Edelweiss
The only ornaments are the white gulls
And the many tears a girl is weeping
translation from a German sea shanty
…the sea gods will take their toll – Joseph Conrad
smooth writing
smooth writing, smooth music
experiments in relaxation
spring arrives
ground soaks up heat
coldest of hearts, melted
hands out palms up, eyes closed
27 March 2013
Milk milk glorious milk
Five milk bottles in the fridge door,
Five milk bottles in the fridge door,
And if one milk bottle was consumed with cereal for breakfast
There’d be four milk bottles in the fridge door.
Four milk bottles in the fridge door,
Four milk bottles in the fridge door,
And if one milk bottle was drunk at lunchtime with some cheese sandwiches
There’d be three milk bottles in the fridge door.
Three milk bottles in the fridge door,
Three milk bottles in the fridge door,
And if one milk bottle was used to make milkshakes for the kids (banana)
There’d be two milk bottles in the fridge door.
Two milk bottles in the fridge door,
Two milk bottles in the fridge door,
And if one milk bottle was used for culinary purposes (misc, unspecified)
There’d be one milk bottle in the fridge door.
One milk bottle in the fridge door,
One milk bottle in the fridge door,
And if one milk bottle was used by anyone for any purposes other than to add to my cup of tea then someone had better look out cos
There’d be no milk bottles in the fridge door.
The end – you can pick your own tune if you like but I have set it to the obvious one.
15 March 2013
The ten fifty four from Newark Northgate to London Kings Cross
Karen Duffy,
Head of Performance,
walked the aisle
with a pleasant smile
and then she was gone
to the next carriage
to serve another.
27 February 2013
“let spring commence”
The trim hedge,
once out of control, is now tamed,
its gangly tendrils mastered
and canopy forestalled.
Clippings lie forlawn, awaiting disposal.
Stiff-shoulders, job complete for another year,
the gardener sinks into his armchair and commands:
“let spring commence”.