When the Dogs Bite

Tuesday, 19 August 2025

19th August 2025

nightmare bogeyman

my former jiu-jitsu teacher

better a stranger

never have I seen so many ripened pears

upon the ancient tree at garden's end

so early in the year, such a heavy crop it bears,

that a harshness of the winter it portends.

Now add to that we find, the sweetest plums

have graced the besieged Victoria tree.

On wild roses, countless hips have come

and pigeons feast upon an elderberry sea,

Blackberries have passed away, quick ripened

by the latest wave of changing summer's heat

and those that cling to tendrils still, a stipend

for the birds and beasts to fatten autumn's treat.

Below the fence from neighbour's yard appear

a hole from whence the rats have entered here.

Monday, 18 August 2025

18th August 2025

trickling water

hearing the distant sound

supermarket trolley

Jiggling Mice

"Manifest" is the Cambridge yearly word

with the meaning of "to imagine it;"

plus the dictionary adds Six K, I heard,

including (affectionate) "boop," and "ick."

(And there I had to 'add to dictionary'

when MS Word is still behind the times)

but the fun continues with "skibidi"

(without the 'toilet' YouTube viral vibes.)

along with "tradwife" for the sudden growth

by red hats that promote the bygone days

where women stayed at home clean and loathe

the independence of the modern age.

The "broligarchy" of this Brave New World

will see the White Cisgender swastika unfurled.

2025 New Words

Sunday, 17 August 2025

17th August 2025

new wire strippers

box cutter sharpness warning

pouring blood

Terrible people make up awful lies

the better to conceal the truth and sway

opinion on their former selves and vies

with truth to hide the deeds performed in former days.

Do we need reminding of Trump's constant abuse

and assumption he's a man worthy of awe?

with bankruptcies behind him with his campaign funds misuse

and all his money kept tax-free, offshore?

Johnnie Rowling couldn't sell her badly-written draft

of Harry Potter and the Stupid Day

until she lied she was a man and laughed

at the money rolling in with added 'K'

Her anti-queer rhetoric has ruined modern life

But all the money in the world can still not buy a wife.

Saturday, 16 August 2025

16th August 2025

shed floor

a carpet of beech nuts

and mouse shit

My little Moose's heart gave out one day

and left him lying dead within my arms

and though he had a life of love and play

I could not keep him safe from ages' harms.

I like to think his spirit lingered near

and looked with kindness on the care I gave

but left us swiftly once the time came near

to be laid in his apple tree-root grave.

And if Saint Peter, at that pearly gate,

denied him entry, as per Christian lore

I believe that he'd have found a kinder fate

at Jasfoup's open, welcoming front door.

And now with inner voice reduced to sobs

I'll distract myself with other garden jobs.

Friday, 15 August 2025

15th August 2025

arm bars

an enduring weakness

extra training

We do perceive our enemies as foul

to stir the ire of citizens and friends

but we who vilify wear darker cowls

concealing truth to serve our personal ends.

For we have not the will to stand and speak

and see that those we hate are just as we

that all their human foibles make them weak

and prey to orator's hypocrisy.

The Russians love their children as before

while Israelites pile Palestinian dead;

the Sudanese are locked in civil war

Americans like lambs to slaughter led.

JKR regrets lack of transition

and demonises those who have conviction.

Thursday, 14 August 2025

14th August 2025

Andy Warhol "Shot Marylins"

night terrors

living with too much clutter

violent men

I'm tempted to be a performance girl

and enjoy my fifteen minutes of fame;

a modern-day Dorothy Podber

and put notorious as my new name.

I'd never take a pistol from the mail

and shoot a stack of Marylyn art

that Warhol, after, tried to fix but fail

and the damage bequeathed a greater heart.

No, instead I'd ask to paint a famous bod

Farage or Trump; perhaps e'en Starmer's smarmy face

inviting film crews with a wink and nod

to gather in public gallery place.

Then once inside the cordon of security there

I'd pour four cans of Dulux on their tinted air.

Wednesday, 13 August 2025

13th August 2025

improvising

hardware for a garden gate

dog views

The English Cotswolds have a beauty fair

half-timbered houses reminiscent of the past

the walls of layered stone and reed-laid roofing there

where gentried folk did dwell and rich folk bask

in England's Green and Pleasant Land and moan

about the summer folk who come in hordes

to gawk at how the One Percent own homes

larger that their postal code as if they're lords

and ladies of the kingdom's hedonistic days

who try to wipe progressive thought from books,

decline to pay the taxes due; start frays

with famous TV personalities and cooks.

But one thing I agree is arsehole Clarkson's stance

that no-one needs a holidaying JD effing Vance.