When the Dogs Bite

Saturday, 11 July 2026

11th July 2026

baking powder

and cold porridge

dietary aid

American Sonnet

I think of you, and with my blade I dig

into your eyes (but still avoid the brain)

for I would have you suffer for your double gig

as money-grabbing president again.

I want to flay the flesh from living bones

reminding you of selfish policies

that reap rewards for you and you alone

and highlight your hypocrisies.

Then bleed thee dry, the way you have the land

and folk who trusted you with power

and find themselves with empty hand

while you increase your fortunes by the hour.

But I, of course, will do none of these things

for thoughts are legal, still, for commoners and kings.

Friday, 10 July 2026

10th July 2026

cut potato

sprinkled with salt.

saucepan cleaner

Would you Dance with a Stranger?

Ruth Ellis was hanged at Holloway Prison

the last woman legally executed her

for killing her lover David Blakely.

It's taken seventy years

for her death sentence to be commuted

to life imprisonment.

Too little, too late,

but the Men of the Judicial System

deemed that Domestic Violence

was a man's right to inflict

and a woman's duty to accept.

Ruth Ellis said no,

and after another miscarriage

from being punched in the stomach,

she made a stand.

She should have been lauded

but the men executed her instead.

Hanged in 1955

Thursday, 9 July 2026

9th July 2026

a box marked Virgin

I want to despoil it now

DK says no

"Legislator of the Year"

for twenty-twenty-three

awarded by 'Moms for Liberty'

went to Republican RJ May.

It's almost as if they want people to blame

for all the child sex trafficking

so they chose the Queer community

as the scapegoat pariahs

when it's all just a smokescreen

for so-called 'normal' men

to have sex with toddlers and infants

and share the pictures online

like RJ May who pled guilty as charged.

Moms for Child Sex Traffickers

Wednesday, 8 July 2026

8th July 2026

early walk

without his muzzle on

Gobby Gobshite.

Café coffee

while waiting for my pupils to dilate

from the stinging liquid drops.

The lady next to me

rough as a cat's tongue

gobbing off at a group of teenage kids

making fun of the disabled.

Thanking her for saying what she did,

for I would not have the courage

in such an outnumbered fight:

me against only three?

I'm too polite.

Tuesday, 7 July 2026

7th July 2026

one wire

moved to the right place

working lights

Old Man Waves Stick at People

dementia patient

waving his stick at an infant's school

because he thinks they're wearing hijabs.

Wait until he sees a Catholic church

he's have a conniption

when he sees Mary in robes.

Nobody would normally care

but this is the US president

with a bucket of nuclear warheads.

Old Man Yells at Children

Monday, 6 July 2026

6th July 2026

so many fireworks

you see nothing but the smoke

Harmful air warnings.

What would leave the world

if there were no lies?

How many companies would fall?

How many politicians would resign?

How many presidents would be impeached?

Supermarket shelves would be emptied

peanut butter, chocolate, ice cream

only a few would remain in stock.

How many 'free range' eggs would vanish?

How many 'Made in Britain'?

And what of Art?

Would novels survive?

Paintings?

Music?

At least Religion would be gone

and the world a better place.

Sunday, 5 July 2026

5th May 2026

low air quality

"Greatest firework display ever"

cancelled

“You are old, Auntie Rachel,” the young student said,

“And your face has gone wrinkly and tight

And yet you incessantly put people in locks

Do you think, at your age, it is right?”

“In my youth,” aging Rachel replied to the lad,

“I was taunted for being red-haired;

But after those years of shaving it off,

I wish that I never had cared.”

“You are old,” said the youth, “as I mentioned before,

And have lost all your middle-aged fat;

But declined to partake of a pizza for four;

Pray, what is the reason for that?”

“In my youth,” said the lady, while stretching her legs

“I was too poor to buy decent food

but now all my protein is red beans and eggs:

Who taught you to be quite this rude?”

“You are old,” said the youth, “and your kidneys are weak

to drink anything other than gin,

Yet you choked everyone who showed up to the gym

Pray, how did you manage to win?”

“In my youth,” said the woman, “I took to the mats,

And trained until I fell asleep

And the muscular memory left in arms

Can still make the men-fighters weep.”

“You are old,” said the youth, “and your cataracts spread

For you to see anything clearly;

Yet you kick Reform candidates right in the head

What made you so liberal leaning?”

“Don’t vote for the fascists!” the old lady replied

"I was raised as a boy by the regs.;

“Do you think I can stand all the anti-trans jibes?

Now be off, or I’ll break both your legs!”

*Apologies to the late Mr Carroll