LES WICKS
Sample poem
Clapham pirate
Ralph's eyes sway around from
the fireplace like a leering crane
on a tiny wharf.
You can piss in the sink, Petey,
but if you don't turn on the tap
it's unhygienic.
The smile was full of gaps/ /
post apocalypse dentistry
from the prison system.
Petey's father's friend
more pirate than any child
could hope for,
the boy hung onto every word.
The howling winds outside
the communion of sweet tea and cakes.
He listened when told
All people are good
'cept screws
& pigs & grasses.
Ralph's tattoos danced,
his muscles snuck around their bones
like burglars.
He could fix anything.
Dad and Ralph were
like a two-day party every
fourth weekend.
Custody was never in doubt,
Petey knew his dad and society
were birds & worms,
only which one was which ever changed.
Come Sunday his
return home to Mum was like
the end of day release.
But Ralph explained
that nothing matters
'Cept mates
& Petey was beyond a fuss,
irrepressible in weak London chiaroscuro.