fabulous

there was nothing batman could do
she had him locked in handcuffs

a bowl of jelly beans just out of reach

while judge judy was out
"dancing with sailors" she said

and there was no hope of being saved
by robin or batgirl because neither would think

to look for him in a hotel room in Italy.

if peter falls in love with her

peter felt himself fall in love
and it hurt more than the 16 stitches in his side

snogging in the library

it is exactly that
and what

it might sound like
too

two people
covering their faces

with books
and each others'

‎"But Zeffirino was hardly one to renounce a whole family of octopus, now discovered."

-a poem based on a line from a story by italo calvino-
for mike

under the skin  of every
high school drama teacher

is a creature who knows he is good
at everything, which everyone knows he is not

he has a talent for tactless attempts
at projects better left untouched

but he cannot ignore the ghost
of the old woman in the rafters

or the soul of his past lives circling around
him like a whole family of octopus

doll house architect

by Ivan Slavinskiiy

he had been making doll houses
pristine and white

with lace and rose-covered wall paper
around every corner

and every detail a little girl's delight
for fifty-four years before

an epiphany

struck him like a blast of lightening
bright and dangerous

a glass house.  it would be
his most dramatic, beautiful and prized work to date

something to give those auctioneers
a real reason to shout!

diamond cut crystal windows
lit with orange and blue and red

the illusion of a fireplace
and a complacent cat curled up beside it

the details you would see through the glass
no cut-out forth wall to reach through and touch

a dollhouse that no doll
could ever escape or be played with.

he threw out the amazing idea;
fore the fear or being trapped

scared him like no other.

blue paint

i put my hand on the wall
where the paint had bubbled
and rippled and torn
under the heat of water dripping
from the bathtub upstairs
and there i felt nothing
but empty space between me
the paint, and the wall.

stitched

he was walking with friends
with his hands in the pockets of his jeans

when he saw a shivering girl
stood outside a busy cafe

her right hand in a plaster cast
and stitches over her left eye

dressed in boots and jeans,
a heavy, gray pea coat and colorful scarf

her hair was bright red
tied back in a pony tail

thick plumes of steam escaped her mouth
as she breathed out into the ice cold air around her

he thought about leaving his friends
to cross the street and say hello to her

to find out what happened to her
but the thought left him as fast as it came

and he passed her by.

the bird house galaxy

orange cats chose to sleep
in cardboard boxes from amazon.com

while the calico sleeps between the feet
of a man and woman, married for eight years almost

there are nests in the back yard
where birds and squirrels are resting

waiting for cold weather to settle in
before flying south or sleeping in

man with one quid

a reply to eoin macken's a woman on the tube

there are few who notice
an old woman in flannel rags

unless she's crying
or leaning against them on the tube

their ears plugged with sounds
selected at random by a device

i can hear the songs too
because you play them so loud

you don't want to hear the world
but you have to see it

you have to see me
give me your change

or think a smile will do
to feed me and the old man

i have to go home to
his heart failing more often now

the heat runs out regularly
and you think one pound will help.

it does.  but we need more
than one man with one quid to give.

after

they spent three days together
in the house and around the bog

with cats awake at inapropriate hours
sleeping in or eating out with friends

but after a few chores and errands ran
she had to go.

good morning, new year

she found a young man on the floor
of a long hall of apartments

where she'd been at a party
to celebrate the new year

he was slumped over, asleep
with floppy brown hair and drunken eyes

kicking him gently to wake him
he groaned and turned his face to her

she told him, "you look like you could be handsome"
then insisted he follow her the six blocks home

because "you can't stay here".

she promised him breakfast and a shower
and as they walked he told her how he'd ended up

stranded in a strange apartment building
after a series of pubs and strange Russian men

with solo cups filled with delight
and promises of pretty girls and music.

she fed him four aspirin and a shot of wet whisky
then left him in the bathroom, supervised by her cat

while she made pancake batter and a pot of tea
and tweeted his status for his friends to find.

they shared breakfast and facts about themselves
and finished the puzzle on her apartment floor.