ripped
asunder
hurled
aloft
twisted
winded
obtruded
wounded
autumnally
bled
copyright ashyvicar 2019
Leaf – a movement in ten words
Reply
the Bat and Ball
this was heaven
the Bat and Ball
long after last orders
lights dimmed
curtains closed
drinks lining the table
tiger bitter
double glenfiddich
henri winterman cigars
talking
the death of god
whisky flowed
no thought police
no biblical literalists
just sally maclennane
so we muse
linda’s limitless intellect
the merits of moondancing
theological themes
replenishing our glasses
the beauty of fermented grain
this was heaven
the bat and ball
no fall from grace with god
copyright a shyvicar 2018
Charles Tomlinson
Mike
all good wishes
words
written on water
Obituary
with candid regrets
rippled
I didn’t know
Blue
leaden white lettering
shelfed
hard to find
Guilt
at words unread
overlooked
streams uncharted
Shipped
a reluctant letter
feared
affirmative response
Tepid
questions by rote
trickling
off the floor
Listened
swimming different strokes
wanting
Seamus Heaney
Broken
on youthful pomposity
shipwrecked
by jaundiced stares
Words
written on water
evoke
these former façades
copyright a shyvicar 2018
Fake Poetry
This is
fake poetry
for the facebook age
programmed by white males
voiced by amazon echoes
a turn of phrase
a dirty look
a semi-colon
tried and tested by focus group
copyright: ashyvicar2018
Morrissey
incremental to my college days
alternative to the copperfield boys
motorbike helmets
drunken fists
you offered another way to live
i wasn’t for fighting
standing tough
smirking over mammary glands
around the streets of Cheltenham
where I studied religion and lived.
i saw you
“The Smiths” at the Apollo
bought a ticket
caught the bus
sat next to siouxsie’s aspiring twin
never spoke
made no fuss
contradicting my christian tutor
shyness was nice
it was no sin
something to celebrate
extroversion should not always win
made me miserable?
my heart skipped as you sang your lines
helped me challenge stereotypes
changing perspectives on life.
copyright a “ashyvicar”.
The Church of England Today
leadership
new messiahs
bandwagon
church
scandals
dwindling disciples
take course
down pills
super- vicar every four hours
convince you
divine dictatorship
the way
get power
get glory
put conscience away
proscribed dose
hook-line
sinker
leadership leadership
only way
church of england today
leadership leadership
peter ball
church of england today
copyright a shyvicar
(first draft whilst listening to “The Teardrop Explodes”)
election 2017
purile debate
gagging for air
left right
talk about a
britain no longer there
this isn’t the 1950’s
empire has long gone
this isn’t the 1970’s
‘jimmy savile’
words that say it all
prim proper may
bearded corbyn
had their day
get the feather dusters
brush cobwebs away
a dead press
rages against dying light
desperate for sensation
disaster
to halt the night
vine and maitliss
roll naked on the floor
flash of manly chest
a nip slip
will viewers watch once more?
internet full
naked images of them
fake as debates
in the 2017
election
copyright a shyvicar
updated whilst listening to “The Icicle Works”.
St. Vincent
synchronised angularity
fretboard agility
outsider insularity
st. vincent
digital mastery
guitar playing artistry
blowing my mind away
st. vincent
writing miraculously
casual cruelty
exposed meticulously
st. vincent
preposterous creativity
what a saint should be
no living piously
st. vincent
Joie de Vivre
your joie de vivre
annoys me
so fake
in that usual way
that comes with the territory
called mission
I’m not really sure
that I am one
for abundant living
whatever that is
I need a bit of mystery
to be plagued by doubts
to catch a glimpse
of something far too wonderful
to be boxed in a god slot
music fans enjoying the moment
christine slip sliding across the floor
a well turned phrase
a malt lightly touching my lips
I don’t want to look at the world
with blinkers on
to see my fellow humans
as hopelessly lost
in need of being saved
life is too screwed up
for such easy answers
to be read straight off the page
copyright: ashyvicar
Steelworks
there’s a tescos now
where the steelworks stood
all glass and girders
clad in wood
cathedral of commercial revolution
and as much as we mythologise
what went on before
so we look down
at the priests
upon this temple floor
serving the commercial revolution
she smiles
is polite
what else can I say
like some desperate paparazzo
I sought her out today
chose her for her looks
as she merrily beeps away
and the sacred words?
– you’ve saved £1.40
– are you collecting vouchers for pans
-how many bags have you used
-have you had your clubcard scanned
at the service of commercial revolution
is it because they’re mostly women
that I dehumanize her so?
the bishops at the steelworks
were hardly saints
its well known…..
and conditions for their priests?
well leave that one alone
because we despise
the commercial revolution
there’s a tescos now
where the steelworks stood
all glass and girders
clad in wood
cathedral of commercial revolution
ashyvicar 