When the Dogs Bite

Tuesday, 6 October 2026

6th October 2026

bark practice

he judges all the car speeds

former life

sometimes

the teeth dissolve

in the stomach acid of pigs

but you can't count on that

because mostly they pass through

and get pooped out

for John the farmer to collect

in his repurposed coffee jars.

Monday, 5 October 2026

5th October 2026

Australia rang
my throwing skills fail me
old Boomer lady

Morita

Japanese therapy
a period of complete rest
followed by simple tasks
despite overwhelming emotion
read aloud while anxiety cripples
wipe the kitchen counters as you cry
sweep the yard as the fury rages.
work gently through the agony
feel a tiny piece of satisfaction
as the job that couldn't be done yesterday
is slowly performed.
feeling better.

Sunday, 4 October 2026

4th October 2026

midnight cleaning
the state of the bathroom
prevents a shower

They Just Stopped Buying

liquid fabric softener: not a product
even boomers like to use: we'd rather
the convenience of capsules, thanks.

Paper napkins always seemed too posh
for daily use (though I prefer the cloth
and wash, the family doesn't like the feel
and tear through sheets of kitchen roll instead.

Cereal is still a thing that I enjoy and so too
does millennial child (though theirs is sweet
with extra sugar piled on top and mine is plain)
but then I eat too much and put on weight and cry.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend
but who these days don't care
that natural ones are mined with blood
when lab-grown stones still shine as bright.

Canned tune here is still a thing
because the children scoff it up in hot and cold
though I choose not to eat of former life
(save in apocalyptic times) I buy it still for them.

Cable television was fine when I was twenty, still
the fibreoptic comes with subscripted fees
and personally I would stick to that which I can stream
of download to a personal device.

Formal china sets were saved for best when I was young;
reserved for Christmas day and otherwise in cupboard kept.
My sister kept my mum's: now both are dead
those fancy plates were landfill long ago.

Orange juice a concept that the rich folk had
and fancy hotel meals with breakfast laid downstairs
but what Del Monte men may say
will touch me not and orange squash will here be bought.

We still have landline telephone
that's used by telemarketers and those
from foreign seedy businesses to scam
the unsuspecting few and also me.

I never bought a paper and preferred
to watch the news instead and trust the BBC
to be impartial (I, the fool) and not I read the sites
that tell me everything I do is wrong instead.

Cow's milk still consumed in bulk by those
who loke their sugared drinks; the chocolate shakes
and salted café latte with a dash or two of syrup
and a chocolate drink for bedtime too.

Alarm clocks are no more a thing -- we all have phones
to tell the time and sound the morning bell
and tech moves on forever
and those carriage clocks are just memorials to time.

The list goes on, and so does life:
what use is it to moan about the 'good old days'
though now we refute thousand year old science
and laud the plagues we thought had gone for good.

They Just Stopped Buying Them

Saturday, 3 October 2026

3rd October 2026

more eggs purchased

the dog examines the pavement

where I dropped them all

self described

as the nicest of people

but inside

a maelstrom of anger

at an unjust and cruel world;

a psychopath

controlled by the knowledge

of social consequence.

when she's eventually homeless

she will go to prison

for aggravated assault

Friday, 2 October 2026

2nd October 2026

"Fetch Tomorrow,"

a request I couldn't assist with

before midnight

some thoughts

best kept to oneself

pretty much forever.

next protagonist

needs to be a sociopath

with social awareness

you can think it

but never, ever voice it

consequences.

Thursday, 1 October 2026

1st October 2026

fucking Amazon driver

leaves every parcel behind the bin

never knocks

Alhamdulillah

random comment

to an online video

"Good God"

no context,

just a user icon

of an open Bible.

Is it a prayer for the video's maker?

A condemnation?

A comment on the world at large?

Not so long ago

it wouldn't have been offensive

but in the years of using Bibles

as tools to bludgeon the downtrodden

invoking the name of a deity

is to be insulting.

Wednesday, 30 September 2026

30th September 2026

confidence misplaced

another pound gained

payment due

every day is yesterday

and every yesterday the day before

my routines never vary:

wake, water, coffee;

apples, bananas, clementines.

i can't be bothered to cook,

so cereal becomes the default

and then the regret.

write some poetry

write some of my novel

play another game.

and then the nightmares

the anxiety

the self deprecation.

and what's the point anyway?

i'll be soon in the grave.