When the Dogs Bite

Thursday, 15 January 2026

15th January 2026

David Hockney

sixties enfant terrible

has not aged well

On Thy Sister's Birthday

Although we have not met for many years

thou occupy my thoughts most every day

I think of thee with love as thy birthday nears

and fond memories of thee have come to sway.

An early recollection comes to mind

upon a back lawn full of daisies wild

where thou wouldst give a "helicopter ride"

to a shrieking, also gleeful, child.

Thou chaperoned a party for my friends

(our mum wrote "Happy Birday" on the cake)

a treasure hunt throughout the house did wend

thus such a decent childhood did you make.

And teaching me to ride a mighty horse

and fetching me from Brighton in due course.

Wednesday, 14 January 2026

14th January 2026

eye infection

and constant ache of arm

sleepless

On Loving One Another

love is that which can still forever bind

one person to another and yet still thirst

for more; yet polyamory may find

a second love without diminishing the first.

And lest thou think this be not the natural state

because of laws writ down by men of God

who vowed to never take a wife to mate

think ye of a mother's love, it be not odd

for her to love each child she bears the same

and still have more to spare for other family too

and yet bestow compassion and keep lit the flame

for those in need of help in crises new.

And if thou say this breaks the law of God above

then thou wilt never understand the depth of love.

Tuesday, 13 January 2026

13th January 2026

small eBay sale

but nowhere is accepting EVRI

littlest hobo song

Maybe Tomorrow

How easy it would be to sit at home

and eat a pack of Bourbons on the chair

make the dog feel valued with a juicy bone

and watch the morning telly without care.

How easy it would be to only take a little walk

into the nearest pretty seaside town

or Scottish Highland loch without another soul to gawk

and fill my coat with heavy stones and drown.

How easy it would be to sign away a soul

to any demon offering some boon

A trillion shiny dollars, say, a presidential goal

and lead the whole world dancing into doom.

Instead, I'll take the longer route to glory

and write myself into another story.

Monday, 12 January 2026

12th January 2026

isolation

a present from the dog

pink eye

Once again, thou covet of the warmth of spring;

for March when daffodils will show their yellow trim,

and there be touches of pure joy in every thing,

when dark and so cold winter winds are dim.

Yet thou do naught but fester in thy foetid smell

with fractured arm and left eye swollen red

and spin the tale how fortune's daughter fell,

and survived her trials to feast upon the dead.

And if thou paint thy pretty pictures there,

of hanging men upon a gallows left

think ye not that others might despair

of all the work obsession leaves bereft?

Who doth thou think will care about your worth

when thou doth finally depart this melting earth?

Sunday, 11 January 2026

11th January 2026

packing groceries

at the self-service checkout

some bloke starts scanning

93 YO Kills Wife, Turns Himself In.

As fast as love can grow, it can be sustained

for more than sixty years before thine age breaks hold

the bond between the two that was obtained

when yet still young enough to love and to be bold.

Richard Hocking took charge of his beloved wife

confined to a chair in pain as health decayed

and barely able to endure her life

for threescore years his love for her arrayed.

This Freemont man went out and bought a gun

and waited for a month ere licence granted

and tended every need she put upon

without complaint for this his love demanded.

A final trip by car to beauty spot

then confession to police his wife he's shot.

Saturday, 10 January 2026

10th January 2026

morning sunshine

backlighting frosty streets

neighbour's trash

2006: The Internet is for Porn

2026: AI is for Kiddie Porn.

"We're not a bunch of paedophiles," says Don,

destroying Epstein's documents tout suite;

"I wasn't mates with Jeffie later on

except on trips to ogle lady meat.

And just because dear Elon pays me well

it doesn't mean that I use Grok at all

except to make my pictures look so swell

that people for my schilling schemes will fall.

Republicans use X like necklace pearls

to poke some harmless fun at Lefty Loons

by using Grok to undress little girls

('it isn't kiddie porn's our favourite tune.')

And if the Brits do ban the Musky app

I'll add a load of sanctions till they stop.

Friday, 9 January 2026

9th January 2026

overnight snow

shovelling outside paths

grateful neighbour

American Gestapo

While Donnie makes his private wars upon the world

and states he now wants Greenland and Cuba;

capitalist propaganda plans unfurled

with cash-for-favours from his mighty poobah.

Meanwhile, his personal Gestapo kill

whoever might annoy them most of all

Minnesotan roads are snowy, still,

and stained with blood from a victim's fall.

Meanwhile here, the would-be dictator states

we will abide by Putin's wise decree

when he's Prime Minister our fates

will be a Russian subsidiary.

Agent Ross, who shot "lesbo" Renee Good

"killed only the queers, as all ICE agents should."