12 Poems
by Mark Anthony Pearce
For Danny D Ford
Danny saw
A dead dog
The morning
Of his birthday
Its legs
Pointing skyward
And
Stuck in Salento
Where so
Many of the
Olive trees
Had croaked it
They had
Some pandemic
Of their own
Some rare disease
That stripped them
Of their spunk
Amongst red earth
Amongst cacti
And straight roads
Straight dead roads
As dead
As Ancient Romans
Cheerio!
Bristol, July 2021
Forty Three Trees
"Year Zero", the dawn of an age in which there will be no families, no sentiment, no expressions of love or grief,
no medicines, no hospitals, no schools, no books, no learning, no holidays, no music, no song, no post, no money
only work and death.
-Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia - John Pilger
A young man stands
Outside my front door
Smokes a cigar
Discussing
The merits
Of Communism
Another young man
With dreadlocks
Earlier this evening
Tells me how he
Saved the world
This year by
Planting
Forty three trees
Science
He insists
Is the future
Bristol, August 2021
The Tough Muscled One
She doesnt
Know his name
The tough muscled one
Daniel? Patrick?
All she knows
Is that hes
Trying to
Be James Bond
On the telly
And hes good as
An action man
While she enjoys
Her evening
And I lie on
My bed
In the dark
She asks me
What it is
I am doing
And I tell her
Nothing at all
And I showed
Her this poem
Bristol, September 2021
Covid Threat
Once upon a time
One April
He had a closed fracture
On his skull
Sometimes his piss
Is dark orange
Sometimes
There is a nasty smell
One thing is for sure
Hell never get his PCR
He is going to come
And pay me a visit
And cough all over my face
Bristol, October 2021
Tatiana Winked At Me
Popped into
The Heart Foundation
To see what more
Books I might find
More books
Ill never read
Found a book
About loneliness
The words cut deep
But I put it back
Quickly on the shelf
There was poetry
By Mary Wilson
Harolds wife
And an inscribed
Dedication to a Joyce
In July of 79
Wasnt this about
The time the Ex PMs
Colon cancer
And Alzheimers kicked in?
I know I found a title
Of short stories
By Ribeyro
When I went to
The counter
To purchase
Tatiana stood
Behind the counter
Black haired
And unattainable
I noticed her name
On some
Funky lanyard
Hanging round
Her pretty
Little neck
Once my coins
Found their way
To her lovely
Spider fingers
She winked at me
And I thought
I might explode
Thankfully not
In my pants
I left the shop
Very confused
The next week
I returned
Found another book
Id never read
And there
She was again
But she didnt
Wink at me
This time
And I left the shop
Reassured
My pure soul
Restored
Bristol, November 2021
You Dont Read Vaptsarov To Bulgarian Women In Bed
You dont read Vaptsarov
To Bulgarian women in bed
Especially if they are
87 years old
And have only been
To London once
Vaptsarov
Was a man of honour
And you are not
Brave
And you are not
You dont read Vaptsarov
To Bulgarian women in bed
If you are not aware
Of their painful history
He was intelligent
And you are not
He was a poet
And you are not
Bristol, December 2021
Broad Weir (S10)
A familiar face
At the bus stop
Is critiquing
The octagonal shape
Of a Quality Street
Chocolate tin
Yearning for
Its round
Historical design
The old man
Sitting next to him
Mutters
Disinterested
Engrossed
In the sex column
Of a newspaper
Bristol, January 2022
Terrys Fending Boredom
Terry was going
To spend some
Money on paint
To freshen up
His living room
But the purity
Of the heroin
Is very poor
And he gets
Absolutely
Nothing from it
Bristol, February 2022
The Soldiers Of Snake Island Are Alive, Thank Goodness
Im not talking
Out of my ass
The invasion
Didnt surprise her
But the soldiers
Of Snake Island
Are alive
Thank goodness
Meanwhile
Her father started
Radiation therapy
This week
But his brother
Is still a
Malignant narcissist
Bristol, March 2022
Her Uterus Was Trying To Kill Her
Thats unpleasant
Unpleasant
would be acceptable
Bristol, April 2022
Reading Heberto Padilla By The Walcot Chapel
History alone does nothing
Said the Poet
And he calls me his friend
History is not enough
It was never enough
It does absolutely nothing
He speaks of Marx
And man made events
While I sit upon green grass
Thinking of the dead
As the bell tolls six
A dog named Hugo
Lead around its neck
Heads towards the bushes
Where it takes a piss
Bath, May 2022
A 50 Pence Smile
She sat on the
Pavement of
Old Market Street
Reading a
Crumpled
Religious pamphlet
Like a Priest
With his breviary
She smiled
And I awarded her
A 50 pence coin
She blessed me
And hoped that
I would soon
Stop limping
But I couldnt tell
This smiling Jesus
That it was simply
My usual way
Of walking
Bristol, June 2022
Copyright reserved. Please do not reproduce without consent.