Shattered like glass
For Azaan Khan
An innocent life shattered like glass:
handlebar dreams once pure and bright.
United we stand at the Berkley impasse
because of a drunken monster of gas.
Threats … Read more
United Kingdom
Man Of The Moment
It’s truly the time of our lives,
the age of the besuited bureaucrat
the middle-class white male
middling this and middling that
geographically limited,
culturally limited,
intellectually bereft
darling of … Read more
Diana eavesdrops on the Coronation
There were three of us in this carriage
and I tip my head to hear
what might remain unspoken.
It’s not the rain, the looming clouds,
bedraggled fans, heads bowed,… Read more
The Crowning
The afternoon moves at the stop-start-stop
again pace of the mail van
with its messages from long-lost friends
and freshly minted bills to answer
by the next hundred-degree day
which, … Read more
Trickle Down Man
I’m trickle down man, pleased to meet you I’m sure,
If you’re suffering from poverty my life is your cure;
The more you give me the better for you,
Sounds … Read more
Anthropocene Suite
For Amitav Ghosh
1
Peel the pale, brown flesh
Hold the cracked shell to your ear:
Screams of the Banda
2
Escaping Earth’s hold,
Unmanned rockets race to claim
Living … Read more
A Plastic Pandemic
Looking back to 1969 the words seem prophetic
“He’s got a plastic heart, plastic teeth and toes,
plastic knees and, a perfect plastic nose.
He’s got plastic lips that hide … Read more
Down with the Ship
Briton among missing
Miami building collapse
citizen both British, U.S.
scores still missing
stories by the dozen
authorities confirm
12 floors fallen
mother
father
baby Patel
internationalize
America’s decay
(the … Read more