Life : Sacred Rites

I had fish and chips And now Im drinking whisky And a glass of stout The terrier is snoring at my foot And little pleasures make a life And this is the way of my people.

Life : Winter Wine

The ether flows in the bedroom window , it creaks and crackles in my lungs. My body flexes and fluxes , riding a tension between fortitude and frailty. My heart loves the delicious, chilled scent , my respiratory system seems less sure. This icy draught has flowed off the melting polar mass , buffeted the…

Life : Ibuprofen

A hot sear dances with a cold ache at the base of my skull Where spine meets head a mini trauma is playing out Scanned memories of what crime I may have committed Have I drunk with wild abandon? willfully blind to future pain? What did I eat? Did I sleep with sufficient air? Messy…

Food : Middle of the Case

The years pile up behind me in empty whisky bottles All recalled in happiness and in the day after despair The green of history eventually takes them from view We remember what we can , we drink what we have Abstinence or closure. Abstinence and closure. No crystal balls. No food scraps. No Tins. The…

Life : Berhampore

Between the Satan’s Slaves and the Sisters of Our Lady of Compassion sits the pub. Once upon a time it was our post office , the world changed and piss replaced postage. Now I sit with my mother and sip beer , the ghost of my father stares at us across the street. The ham…

Life : One Less

The day has a rhythm marked out in feedings. We rise before the sun has found my horizon. Meat biscuits and water , Twinings and Havana, the provisions of life and of stimulation. This worn-out frame runs better on caffeine, the dog runs best on flesh. Bird song gives way to gassy combustion, drowned in…

Life : Maintenance Issues

My knee has registered a stop work The foreman has identified wear and tear All pain is soluble, all motion is suffering But then I possess nothing unique there.

Life : Demon Cleaner

He hides our liquid sins Scoops them up, Smashes them down Empties go another round He cleans our demons We are the angels Till next fortnight When we will bare the glass And again He will hide our liquid sins.

Life : Units of Happiness

“I drink much less than most people think, and I think much more than most people would believe.” ― Hunter ” I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.” ― Winston A drop of malt to anesthetize the day A drop of malt to hush the voice that rings…