When the Dogs Bite

Thursday, 12 February 2026

12th February 2026

howling winds

closing all the shutters

terrified pup

shutters locked tight

allow a glimmer of daylight

the cat careens across the floor

chasing a dried and empty tea bag;

more Lady Orange than Lady Grey.

The Handsome Old Dude snores softly

while the young pup wanders

claws clicking across the floorboards

anxious and upset.

Rain spatters on skylights

shy lights

hidden from the sun.

awake, mon amours, awake

for I do love thee dearly.

Wednesday, 11 February 2026

11th February 2026

bedside lounging

the curve of a cheek

softly kissed

What new Hell hath this company unleashed

where even humble pigeons turn to war

while weaponised with Big Tech's long-armed reach

their brains wired with a cybernetic core.

Equipped with cams and solar-powered cells

their wheel and flight mechanic drones can't match

airborne spies that ring dissonant bells

incendiaries the snipers cannot catch.

And further applications now explored

cockroach cameras exploring underground

while larger mammals' skulls are drilled and bored

stray dogs wired makes hidden soldiers found.

How soon before these hacks include VR

Teens controlling soldiers from afar?

Russian Start-up

Tuesday, 10 February 2026

10th February 2026

sudden curls

after walking at dawn

French rain

'If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.’

Ghandi

Kate told her bloke to stop being a dickhead

and she could easily have said the same

to me before I ever got to shed

the shitty social ethics of the game.

'Tis ot until you've been the bitter butt

of vile jibes and insults meant to wound

and followed on as every door is shut

for fear of thine unclean status groomed.

And as the world of politics comes crashing

to a halt when Joe fins out the farces

that rich men are all paedophiles just lashing

silly sums of cash inside each other's arses

More injustice follows as our rights are stricken down

and all the world licks semen from the fatted orange clown.

Monday, 9 February 2026

9th February 2026

sleepy kitten

demanding attention

dogs waiting

This pollarded stump may dream of lofty height

for in its roots dwells still a mighty soul

that burrows through the stone with ancient right

to reach an all-due majesty above these plains of boule.

I know not of what fruit thou brings to bear

when spring will coax thy freshest stems to shoot

and summons forth thy fragrance to the air

for bees to gather nectar from thy fruit.

This region of the French Dordogne is known

for grapes to make the wine of days long passed

but thou art cut too tall for summer's vine

and suspect that thou bring forth plums at last.

For now in winter's slumber doth thou rest

and I'll return ere autumn time to test.

Sunday, 8 February 2026

8th February 2026

low cries

as I step out of the shower

walk time

Stage Tw0

He is not dead but merely gone from sight

in what is deemed a political ploy

his body switched out in the dead of night

and gone to Israel, the darling boy

beloved of so many men of power

who relied on him to sate their dark desire

for ladies who have not yet reached the hour

of menstruation in their undeveloped fire.

Lady Hervey, Andrew Windsor's ex

explains a guard had seen the switch in NYC

and that the peddler of teenage sex

is living as respected Jewish man quite free.

And what of missing homeless city men

whose faces seem to echo those with names of note

collected, fed and cleaned 'til they resemble them

who must perforce withdraw from public gaze by rote.

Saturday, 7 February 2026

7th February 2026

happy sounds

as I'm greeted with grunts

contented boy

Morning in Eymet

Night has tucked away her skirts

and with those, the drape of darkened clouds

for now the sun releases early light

and the promise of a dawning spring is vowed.

Bright blue the jigsaw pieces of the sky

are slotted still with white and darkened swells

while early walkers dot the still-damp streets

and footfalls echo with the sound of tolling bells.

An older man walks past, his face now turned

as fixed in place by startling gorgon flare

or be he rapt by Aengis' squatting poo

rather than my fading, flaming hair.

An hour past and we are headed home

but stop outside the lovely L'Etabli

where majestic fluffy hound awaits outside

to exchange a morning pleasantry.

Friday, 6 February 2026

6th February 2026

away for the week

a small sale made on eBay

I'm not there.

Now in my later years I had no thought to see

awakening of Nature's strongest power,

how is it then that I have come to be

in depths of love for such a gentle flower?

And though I know that this be summer’s honey breath

before the winters of infirmity and age,

what can I do but bless devoted Death,

for every day she stays her hand another page

is writ upon sweet Branwen's book of deeds.

This jewel in my life I will now cherish

for all the inspiration it might feed

for lacking love is what it means to perish.

Be not afraid to dance within the light

and be assured that love be thine by right.