They’ll solicit obliteration of
our old theatre [not heeding
complaints from preservers
& old-way-fixers with books
referencing how long those
stall & circle dream pits sat
in our gist]/ Homer was not
one for such revery/ I lost a
phone in Paris – among 200
tipped-up seats – it rang as I
searched – unusual acoustic
tricks did me/ Acts spooled
on my Walkman – fast fwd &
that mechanicalness [we no
longer degust]/ Our mobiles
rewind our playlist of screw-
ups & messages from those
whom we kicked back – that
ruinate of old performances
with no awards [or encores]/
Bingo halls serve less balls –
those so-monotone tenants
of unwanted playhouses are
on a list – to be ever-emptied
with a similar blow by C-19’s
twistings [best played online]
Tag: smartphone
On at Eridge
For fuck’s sake
then a rummage
of backpack zips
as his phone alert
raises its volume
during their fight
And she asks him
Where are you?
Just left Eridge
Where?
Just left Eridge – On the train
When are you here?
In a few minutes – In a few minutes – It’s running late
And nothing more is said
Touchscreen
Here grandparents struggle
with screen-deprived kids
unsure of the new-fangled rules
on both sides of such fist fights
during lung-asking tantrums
whilst forever doing term time cover
for absent parents – out there –
sipping lattes and checking phones
under nice parasols in London
The Word Cowboy
Out with no phone –
out without
that device which is
my ready-coiled rope –
a slack spiral – a bracelet
looped into a throwable
lifeline – unknottable –
loose for when needed –
for my amateur attempts
to lasso my lawless
thoughts –
Each born-weak twine
twisted over many
weak-born twines –
into a thousand strands –
into one unbreakable line –
Verb-spun into itself –
into a readied tethering
which will bear
me – my word weight –
which will tighten
without a tug or hanging –
There is a knowhow
to such coiling –
which was my first
apprenticeship –
which now –
is my last attempt at art
Envious
My envy device knows me too well
just from the lightest of my touches –
She is engineered to conduct risings
inside my mind from sparked jealousy –
ramping up to shrill shocks of hate –
which will then swill around my unfit gut
and tease those last good microbes
into a lurching frenzy of brain cramps –
then I want to steal their smug smiles
which beam from their side of the world –
and she will be working so very well
at keeping me in her malicious circle –
and I will add fuel to her high pyre
by posting my oh-so-perfect life atop it all
*Inspired by@guardian and Moyra Sarner – thanks for the ‘envy device’
MIKE BELL | 10,000 Poems 