When the Dogs Bite

Friday, 11 September 2026

11th September 2026

Chesterfield fascist

gets £230K fee waived

is politics Right?

Practical Self Defence

It's not how you dress

that increases the risk of being assaulted

but your gait and your awareness

of your immediate surroundings.

Girls dressed in crop tops and short skirts

are only four percent of the victims

in cases of sexual assault

because they have confidence;

they travel in packs, heads high

and owning the world around them.

The girls in coats and leggings

who shuffle along trying not to be noticed

they're the ones targeted:

they don't notice the bloke following;

the transit van in the loading bay;

the stranger walking the other way.

The girls at the parties

with open glasses and sparkling wine

who accept the thoughtful drink

offered by the friend from college;

the one they've known for years.

who gossips about workmates

and holds your hair when you vomit.

If you're over the alcohol limit

you cannot give consent.

Look up; look confident:

look not at your phone

Thursday, 10 September 2026

10th September 2026

quality paint

make so much difference

old skills

Things I can't say Aloud (iii)

Why, then, are we even friends?

In real life and online you saunter past

and barely note that I exist

but lo! When I find success, then there thou art

all smiles and gilded leaves

to bask in such reflected light

as from a satellite that orbits in the dark

and offers nothing of itself.

Thou proclaim thyself as one who brings the sun

but art instead a comet

flitting past and shedding shit into the air

and vanishing again into the night.

Wednesday, 9 September 2026

9th September 2026

that heavy feeling

Kate Bush once sang about.

Slimming World

Things I can't say Aloud (ii)

I am no Orpheus;

no music will grace these fingers,

nor spin gold of whispered breath

by means of gilded tongue;

but neither art thou my Euridice

and I would not walk the hidden path

to rescue thee from Hades’ realm

for let us take the minotaur by its single horn,

thou woulds't ne'er keep thine eyes on me.

Tuesday, 8 September 2026

8th September 2026

so much shit

landing on our doorstep.

broken pipes

Things I can't say Aloud (i)

I expect thee not to follow me

to dwell forever in my shadow,

in the company of Hades,

but rather, I prefer you go

without me to those fateful shores

and find whatever joy you need

in the company of those harpies

you loved so much in life.

Monday, 7 September 2026

7th September 2026

problematic

the escalation of warfare

global threats

if I have misjudged you

let me apologise and make amends

but let me add a caveat

for I did not conclude so lightly

you were worthy of contempt

the chances you were given to improve

were numbered three or more

so now I bid adieu

and beg you leave for you are light

intruding into mourning time

unwelcome evermore.

Sunday, 6 September 2026

6th September 2026

haywire algorithms

where are all my home channel videos?

politics and law

the colour of my existence

is a sable watercolour brush

loaded with the stigma of age

but the highlights!

Oh! What crepuscular rays

penetrating the shadows!

Words left behind in obscure works

art in a few private hands

the memory of love in some hearts

and the knowledge I shared

that may one day save a life.

Saturday, 5 September 2026

5th September 2026

impatience

then every time I rise

hopeful

Sir, sir!

Where are your five bodies?

Outside? Hanging in a tree?

Admit it, you charlatan!

Do you have even a feather

of the supernatural in your system?

Have you?

Some of my relations are dead, I think,

You think?

That is to say, I have connections...

Connections?

With pickpockets, perhaps,

and spurious dealers of unusual wares

such as the demons who reside

in their colourless winter hovels.