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Dean Whitbread: Poetry (10 unread)

Tobacco and Shit

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 9:28am BST by Dean Whitbread

Her elbows smell of tobacco
and her shit smells of burnt toast
She's dead, but in my dreams
she's warm and real, no ghost
She dresses up for going out,
and down for going in
And spits out all the little words:
"Alright?" "ok?" "how you been?"

She sits in sunlight shaving off
the hardest parts which grow
Removing and refining,
a buffer for the ego
Every day another
opportunity for sleep
Every night another dream,
Slept calmly, slept deep.
Black Cab Conversation

Posted: October 11th, 2004, 10:45am BST by Dean Whitbread

He said
You got that broadband then
What's it like ?
I said
It's like the difference between pedals
And a motorbike
He said
I was going to try it free for sixty days
- NTL cable
But the wife wouldn't let me put no wires
Under the kitchen table
I said
You don't need wires these days
You can do it wireless
He said
Plug the computer into the radio ?
Blimey, what will they think of next
I laughed
Then spent 15 minutes explaining and extolling
Standards 802.11b & g
He said
You know who I had in this cab the other day ?
Tim Berners-Lee

DFRW 28th September 2004
The Move

Posted: October 4th, 2004, 8:22pm BST by Dean Whitbread

Removal men, in overalls
Wheeling cupboards, wardrobes,
Crates, boxes, teachests and the like
The green van, it's great white letters
Ten feet high and fifty wide
Standing patient, quiet,
In leafy and autumnal Lilac Drive.
A small bird twitters, darting in and out
The repeated territorial refrain
"Careful of my life" and "Put that there."
A steady plod of booted feet
The slow draining of an old bath
Water slipping through a mess of hair
Foam slowly melting, loud at last
Rooms bereft, hard, now echo emptily
Bangs sounding louder and more wooden
Even though (in sight at least)
They shift with tender care
Like vergers carry hymnbooks.
The future goes outwards, onwards
Restitution a promise, chains pulled
And tightened, airbrakes hiss
Ropes and pads won't slip
The driver knows the way, he does
A thousand miles a week
With just occasional delay.
Men and van are gone
Lilac Drive returns to scale
The final lock-up, secure yet
Not for you now, only
Empty bottles on the step,
One bare light bulb in the hall
And a cheery welcome note
To inhabitants unknown
Pinned to the kitchen wall
In the pale rectangle
Where the calendar once hung.

DFRW 4th October 2004
L'Infant

Posted: October 3rd, 2004, 6:21pm BST by Dean Whitbread

Baby Dribbling Sibling
Nibbling Spitting Shitting
Gurgling Wailing Weeping
Sleeping Waking Sleeping
Waking Taking Taking
Taking Sleeping Waking
Baby Booby Baba
Mama Papa Mama
Suckling Sweety Duckling
Chuckling Cooing Pooing
Spewing Snotting Mewling
Mauling Standing Falling
Rolling Not Yet Crawling
Cuty Booty Bib
Nappy Crappy Happy
Babby Chubby Daddy
Mummy Tummy Yummy
Gummy Chummy Bummy
Runny Costing Lots of Money

DFRW 1st October 2004
How It Can Be

Posted: September 29th, 2004, 1:25am BST by Dean Whitbread

He shows no sign of infirmity
His stick an umbrella
Furled neat, contained
His casual lean belies his need
To rest his knees, limbs
Withered by time but not disease

His nodding head affirms
Agrees with pause for thought
Wisdom bought by years
Serenity by tears
Teeth remaining all his own
His crowning glory shines
White and clean in morning light

Sleep at night easy as breath
Released, he still delights
In every taste
He rides a bike uphill
Shows off for fun sometimes
His skill to younger men,
Competing for their girls
Many battles won, but one
Yet undecided, his last
Determination simply
Not to be surprised

DFRW 5th April 2004
Cool Dude

Posted: September 28th, 2004, 9:44am BST by Dean Whitbread

Another cool dude
Wears shades on the tube
Designer face impassive
He's the incognito massive

Crisp and casual
Cool and yet refined
He's not the sort of guy
To shout "REWIND!"

His eyes are two dark
Question marks
His poker-faced guess
Shop window dress

Top lip and chin
Cut sharp, a jewel
Neat razor trim
But he sees fuck all..

DFRW 13th May 2004
I'm A Nobody, Get Me Anywhere

Posted: September 27th, 2004, 7:39am BST by Dean Whitbread

I just can't bear
To stick around here
Or I'm gonna suffocate
Suffer the 2nd rate
Cult of the TV
C-list celebrity
Stick on the box again
Red button vote to win

I wanna be there
I wanna be anywhere
Anywhere but here, coz
Here is just too near
This train terminates
Just round about here
So get me anywhere
Anywhere but here

I'm a nobody
Nobody knows me
Nobody cares now
So I wanna be there
Now I'm a no-one, a
Major non-entity
Please vote me out of here
Or I'm gonna disappear

I don't wanna be here
I wanna be everywhere
Everywhere but here, coz
Here is just too near
This brain terminates
Somewhere around here
Please get me out of here
Just get me anywhere

DFRW 17th February 2004
You Are Perfect

Posted: September 26th, 2004, 10:25pm BST by Dean Whitbread

In your own way
You're improving
Little by little
Each and every day
In a more than mundane way
Almost acceptable
Nearly admissable
Evidence of presence
Mind over matter

You are perfect
Finished and that's it
No more incomplete
Tidy and discrete
You are perfect
Patient, adaptable
Cool and collected
Stylish and sensual

In my own way
I'm degrading
A spectacular collapse
Suddenly one day
In a less than mundane way
Entirely rejected
Ruled out of court
Evidence of absense
No telekinesis

I am perfect
Only just starting
Everything must go
Upwards as I grow
I am perfect
Impatient, fixated
Uncool and distracted
Uptight and in a mess

DFRW 17th March 2004
Ice Cream

Posted: September 26th, 2004, 9:50pm BST by Dean Whitbread

ice cream

hot train

small spoon

slow swoon

DFRW 3rd March 2003
Stone

Posted: September 26th, 2004, 9:42pm BST by Dean Whitbread

No longer on sheets do I sleep
Nor the comfort of a soft bed
for my bones and head
My eyes shut then they open up
exhausted an hour before dawn
Missing you is lost in mist
Lover's caresses blurred into fist
Punch drunk, apallingly stoned
and pissed
broken, forsaken, haggard, forlorn.

DFRW 23rd February 2003