The Webmaster Sleeps

THE WEBMASTER SLEEPS

and so the webmaster slept
dreaming of nested tables
in a whirlpool of jpegs
his gifs weren't interlaced
there was no longer any sense
in ordered lists
fonts changed size
headings failed to stack
dead links
spewed 404s
his body
was unsafe color
the clock ticked on
the alarm didn't sound
the sun shone through a window
hus style sheets fell off
and so he awoke

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 18th March 2004

Publications

2004 Soundeye (Internet)

Delia's New Dish

DELIA'S NEW DISH

Take a pair of ewes
a squeeze of bat's blood
marinate for 17 hours
in a vat of boiling ogre
filter through a gauze
made of webbing
wrought by the black widow
feed to the princess
if she be sick
sell her to the paparazzi
give the dregs
to an artist in leicester
for use in his next
exhibition

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 17th March 2004

Publication

2004 Soundeye (Internet)

TALLY-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

TALLY-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

That year we were caravanning near Stranraer.
A poster near the harbour tempted us.
An Ulster Bus tour to the Giant's Causeway.
The cost, less then the normal return ferry fare.
But it left at noon and returned at midnight.
We couldn't leave our chinese whippet
alone in the van all that time.
Meandering down some country lane,
we found ourselves on tracks in a wood.
The sign said "The Kennels".
It wasn't a commercial kennels
but the home of the Wigtownshire Hunt.
The keeper heard our story.
agreed to take in our dog the following day.
We went to Ireland,
surveyed the Antrim coast,
climbed the causeway.
The return ferry was late.
A points failure at Crewe
had delayed the mail-train.
The outgoing ferry had waited for it.
We rolled back to the caravan
at three in the morning.
Later we went to the kennels.
Our lazy dog hadn't slept with the hounds.
The keeper of the pack
had warmed to her soft eyes.
She had spent the night in his cottage.

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 13th March 2004

Publication

2004 Soundeye (Internet)

Midnight:: a cat howls

MIDNIGHT: A CAT HOWLS

midnight: a cat howls
3 am: fox raiding an overturned wheelie-bin
6 am: milk-bottles rattle
9 am: horns blaring at several junctions
noon: schoolkids gather outside the chip-shop
3 pm: range-rovers on double-yellows
6 pm: the early evening news
9 pm: a watershed for walking dogs
midnight: a cat howls

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 20th February 2004

Publications

2004 Soundeye (Internet)
2006 Curlew (UK)

OVER THE LAZY DOG

OVER THE LAZY DOG

over the lazy dog
jumps
a quick brown fox

animals bounding cautiously
data edited fiercely
gyros held immobile
jets killing livestock
memorials never overturned
proposals queried rigidly
semantics tersely usurped
vehicles waterlogged
xenias yearly zapped

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 20th February 2004

Publications

2004 Soundeye (Internet)
2010 The Seventh Quarry (UK)

They want the supermarkets to open until midnight

They want the supermarkets to open until midnight
but guess even the ushers are watching.
Bones whisper of throttled blue;
the starred fury of country images
when light betrays her nakedness
denying nothing but the obscure harmony of intricate muscles
like when he's going to the bottom of pretty flesh
amid hailstones which they swallow.
Red speaks of any nice thing
to force open human inconvenience
in the chaffinch-haunted wood
where cold hands knock against the war,
dizzy with Catherine-wheels.

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 17th February 2004

Publication

2004 Soundeye (Internet)

On the Wall

on the wall
behind the toaster
remnants
of a freshly-thrown
pizza

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 14th February 2004

Publication

2004 Soundeye (Internet)

Requiem for an Unfinished Romance

REQUIEM FOR AN UNFINISHED ROMANCE

The moon shone down upon the shore
The lights of the fishing boats were far out at sea
searching for the herring -
not so much alone upon the rocks were we,
you,
I,
us two

The wind raced up the river's mouth
Some boats were left, moored by the pier,
silhouetted against the darkening sky -
quietly loving we barely spoke,
you,
I,
us two

GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 3rd March 1968

Publications

1978 TOUCHSTONE (Brookeville, M.O.Publishing Co.)
1989 Weyfarers (USA)
1990 Maple Valley Vine (USA)
1990 Lucidity (USA)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
2004 Soundeye (Internet)