napowrimon 2013 - poety and photography journal

7/30/2019 NaPoWriMon 2013 - Poety and Photography Journal

1/36

The poems, conversations and

photographs of Ant, The

GameCat, Smith; a daily journal

from National Poetry Writing

Month, April 2013


2/36

NaPoWriMo

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.Aristotle


3/36

Why not write a daily poem-a-day?

Suddenly words are so throw away.

Carve out space where you can sit and wait

For a clue to what you want to say

The spirit of this thing's so profound

Ideas are won more than they're found

Infernos rage from the slightest spark

The poet's abyss is never far.

When words move in abstract sullen moods

They likely proselytise for to youWhy not write a daily poem-a-day?

Perhaps because I ain't so vain

You must be some kind of great maven

To promise daily poetic ravings

The Maven

April 1st


4/36

Tax me walking till I stand still

Tax me standing till I fall ill

Tax me laying in my bedroomTax me naked then tax me blue

They've

Taxed my naked body

The wearing of my skin

They've taxed my extra nipple

And even my foreskin

They've taxed my lovely cock

By each engorgeous inch

And then they went and taxed

My foolish inane grin

They've taxed my hide

They've taxed my pride

They've even taxed my bare backside

They've taxed the pennies on my eyes

Tax me walking till I stand still

Tax me standing till I fall ill

Tax me laying in my bedroom

Tax me naked then tax me blue

I didn't want to be laid bare

To owe the man this naked share

I wasn't born that way, that's a fact

But they taxed the shirt from off my back

And I'll be in trouble

When they tax my laugh

The bleeding bastard taxing twats

Tax me naked

Tax my hide

But I'll still have my darker side

For you might tax bodies

But you can't tax minds

Naked Tax

April 2nd


5/36

You most ov been on benefits

I saw you buying chips

You most ov been on benefitsWhen you got those plastic tits


I saw you skip that ship


When you fried those little kids

Benefit Britain

Benefit Britain

Brazen bastards blame bad citizens

Benefit Britain

Benefit BritainBrazen bastards blame bad citizens


But I saw you dance and drink


But you went on that picnic


But still you get your kicks


Why won't you shovel shit?

Benefit Britain

Benefit Britain


Benefit Britain

Benefit Britain


Your right to breed has just been capped

Because you're on benefits

Your dignity itself is taxed


Your liberty is to be scrapped


My face looks like an arse that's slapped


Benefit Britain

Benefit Britain


Benefit Britain

Benefit Britain



Benefit Britain

April 3rd


6/36

Now spliffs they will come

in all shapes and sizes

Some are impressive andSome are surprises

Some are long and thin like a pencil

Some are like stubbies,

packed and eventful

Sometimes they will droop

or at the root are quite floppy

Some they are smooth and

some they are rocky

some overhang with an excess of skin

Easy to light when stood in the wind

Or to excite with just a pinchSome are like funnels

Down their length they expand

They get harder to suck on

The longer they stand

Some are so small

That they can serve just the one

But a blow back from them

Is like snogging a god

Now spliffs they will come

in all shapes and all sizes

But it's the one that you got

that does the best job

A spliff in the hand

Is worth two in the bush

I've never met a spliff

That I couldn't love

All Shapes And Sizes

April 4th


7/36

The cyborg virtuoso girl

Has rings on her fingers and bells on her toes

For her hardy rib cageShe wears a xylophone

She has an ocharina

Stuck inside her nose

She will have music

where ever she will go

Cyborg virtuoso girl

I love you more than Tetsuo

Cyborg virtuoso girl

I love it when you blow!

The cyborg virtuoso girl

April 5th


8/36

It used to be so easy to visit Coventry

All you really had to do was simply not to speak

But now it's so much trouble for you to ignore meOn Twitter and on Flicker and even by moby

By blog post, and by e-mail, and by Face Bukake

It's okay I get the message that you don't send to me

There's half a dozen ways to avoid the face to face

I wonder why the hell I'm simply not erased?

Thankfully you don't poke me

Or play those social games

As for tagging that's a mad thing

You won't click upon my face

But I've noticed something weirdSomething sometimes that you do

I will get an invitation

Out of the bastard blue -

An opportunity to pay

To come and see you play

That's the measure of a friend

Inside of cyber space

You have been invited...

April 6th


9/36

If I could bleed the blue from out of the sky

And render life in grey

The whole wide world would understandHow I feel when you're away

If I could draw the heat from out of the sun

To fuel my furious fire

I feel the world would be undone

As you consume my pyre

If I could rip the songs from throats of birds

to forge a symphony

I fear the world would be silenced

As you are deaf to me

If I could pluck the heads from every flower

And line them up on spikes

I believe the world would be outraged

As you are worth such sights

If I could strip the surface from the land

Expose the dirt beneath

I know the Earth would be ashamed

As you're beyond belief

Beyond Belief

April 7th


10/36

I remember you racist campaigning

Your attacks on our community

I remember you clearly statingSociety was illusionary

I remember you devastating

The markets with bad policy

I remember your vocal training

From sodding satchi and sodding satchi

I remember you we're not for turning

While you had the power of the police

I remember your green goddesses burning

While you lost control of the streets

I remember you taxing our fuelWhile the miners stood up against you

I remember you snatching our milk

When I was still at my school

You can turn in your grave if you want to

Return to your Victorian values

Burke and Hare wouldn't get but two coppers

For a cadaver as twisted as you

I'm glad I've seen the last of your handbags

And that Brixton is planning a rave

I'm gonna put on my glad rags

And I'm gonna piss on your grave

Yes, I'm gonna put on my glad rags

And I'm gonna piss on your grave

Gotcha

April 8th


11/36

Don't let her go silent

Into that good night

Don't lay down your swordsAnd give up the fight

Don't listen to the counsel

Not to speak ill of the dead

Bang on the doors and

Demand Maggie's head

Don't tell me she was

A feminist icon

Don't claim a respect

For simple endurance

Don't cover it upThe ill she has done

Her cadaver is guilty

And it should be hung

Don't honour her strength

Or give life to that lie

Don't decide now

Is the time to comply

Don't let a compassion

Let this moment slink by

Now is the time

To take an eye for an eye

Don't let history be rewritten

Lest we forget

Don't think of the twins

For they don't regret

Don't listen to the counsel

Not to speak ill of the dead

Bang on the doors and


Yes, bang on the doors and


Let the world know that

We're glad that she's dead

Speaking ill of the dead

April 9th

Photo by Jane Taylor


12/36

Maggie, Maggie, Maggie - Dead, dead, dead


Maggie - DeadMaggie - Dead


What kind of gruesome thing with tits

Would take the milk away from kids?

It churns my stomach when I think

Of her suckling little twins

Ah! Of moaning minnies she would sing

While she taxed every little thing

And battle ships she liked to sinkWith her lizard sideways blink

Against minors, gypsies, working folk

She attacked our homes and our all hopes

Deployed her armies at our doors

Her democracy was settling scores

Thatcher's brutes they brutalised

Bruised and battered my good wife

But now she has a battle cry

Trafalgar's heroes saw you die!

Then in one final cruel blow

They're gonna burn her up you know

The final proof goes up in smoke

She died about a year ago

Hold the press, they've got some news

To bury deep along with you

Cameron's learned his lessons well

But still he'll join her down in hell



Maggie - Dead

Maggie - Dead


Maggie, Maggie, Maggie

April 10th


13/36

Time seems to flow from start to end

With occasional points we comprehend

As anchors in a sea of ageOr the turning of a written page

Congratulations it's a boy

Happy Christmas, peace and joy

Eternity plods along a path

From chance to chance and to mishap

Depression holds me in the past

Anxiety's a future trap

We measure lives in coffee spoons

And dwell on ghosts within our rooms

Clocks run down and suns burn out

And life is lived beneath a cloud

Where will I be a year from now?

Laid out pretty in fine white shroud



As a moment where we made a choice

But so few moments to rejoice



Time travel can, bring on the bends

What time breaks, only time can mend

Time Travel

April 11th

Photo by Carl Chamberlain


14/36

I've been shedding my skin

Like a flower sheds it's petals

I've been grinding my teethLike a smith forges metals

I've been biting my nails

Like bullets bite flesh

I've been scratching and scratching

And scratching my head

I've been spunking up butterflies

And sneezing out lies

I've been shitting on rainbows

And crying for good times

I've been retching up faeriesAnd sweating out magic

I've been sick as a dog

And acting too dramatic

I've been twitching like I've seen

The old and the dying

I've been snatching for breath

In the boldness of lying

I've been thinking about

Both love and of hate

There have been times when

I've made mistakes

I've been wishing for wishes

And dreaming of dreams

I've been asking myself

What does all of this mean?

I've been kicking my heels

And painting grass green

I've been in the shadow

In the middle of my scene

I've been to the top of the world

And the bottom of my heart

Do not resuscitate

I can't take a restart

Do Not Resuscitate

April 12th


15/36

Fragile things are beautiful

Especially when they're broken

But beauty has a nasty biteWhen it is awoken

Dreams have a power to delight

Especially when they're spoken

But delight has bad side effects

That hide behind net curtains

Between dream and sleep you find belief

Your cache of secret tokens

Spend them well and will you be

Happy in your dreams

Of delightful beauty that

Fractures when it grievesFragile things are beautiful

But beauty is obscene

Fragile things are beautiful

April 13th

Photo by Christine Adams


16/36

I hope your optic nerves are cute behind those cruel cold eyes

I hope you've got some lovely bones

Beneath that battered skinI hope that when your tits decay

You stun me with your tight rib cage

I hope there is some calm beneath

Your look of twisted rage

I hope your opalescent home

Comes with a family room

I hope your dear old father would

Polish your silver spoon

I hope your lovely kids don't

Disappear in the darkI hope you never have to

Cry when others laugh

I hope your life is charmed

Like a life was meant to be

I hope your death is fast

And goes down in history

I hope your not denied

The things you could achieve

I hope you get to taste

Everything denied to me

Deserving

April 14th


17/36

Take away these craggy lines

And this silver in my hair

Take away this saggy skinAnd all these long acquired cares

Take away these aching knees

And this practical underwear

Take away this new disease

And my cold and lonely stare

Give me back my future

My springtime and my youth

Give me back my chances

To understand the truth

Give me back my reasonTo embrace a night of dreams

Give me back my childhood

And wipe the old slate clean

Take away the stains I leave

When I take a pee

Take away the memories

Of maudlin misery

Take away all of the dysfunction

Of an old and frozen brain

Take away all the hated years

And make me young again

For if I had my time over

I'd make the same mistakes again

I'd forge the same old enemies

And break up with the same old friends

How ever much I screwed up

I'd do it all again

For one lifetime is not enough

Now that I've found love

Take away the wasted years

Before I ever knew

Take away the flowing tears

Of a cold and lonely youth

Take Away

April 15th


18/36

It's okay to disagree

For being right is not enough

The embrace of contradictionsIs the cage of one true love

Hate can spark a fire

That lights us on our way

And I'm burning with desire

To see the end of days

Passion is a ghoul that

Feeds on empathy

Hatred is a hero that

Stands up for the weak

A tempest set in balance

Does not equal one calmed seaBring on the great calamity

Boil away the seas

This is my one true identity

The carrier of disease

Bring on the great calamity

And the end of humanity

Love and hate coalesces when

Life finally sets us free

And life is awful shallow when

You spend it on your knees

Needful Hatred

April 16th


19/36

Another new day is dawning

As is the wont

Of an eternally burningMass melting pot

What's done is done

And what's gone is gone

The past is consigned

To the wrath of the gods

My heart it is yearning

For a future that's bright

Some moments are torches

In the midst of the night

Another new day is dawning

And I'm fit for the fightAnother new day is dawning

Now who's got a light?

Pyre

April 17th


20/36

Birthdays celebrate the fact that you are still alive

Another day when you can claim that you have survived

Well done then my dear friend for having not yet diedI wonder if you ever have ever even tried?

I'll gift you twelve more months, you are but twenty six

A year to follow in the steps of Jimi Hendrix

Burn your candle down at twice the normal rate

Get yourself measured up for your early grave

I hear up in heaven they've planned a mighty rave

Poison your own liver and they will save a place

Infamy, infamy, I'm sure you will taste fame

For people will demand that you, play it once again

Immortality's for old men, I hope you join the club

I hope this year is worthy of, your last chance at dying young

The 27 Club

April 18th


21/36

What the eye can't see the heart can't grieve?

Don't talk to me about falling trees

Dry rot and wood lice fill my homeCorruption reaps all that has been sown

What the man can't hear cannot deceive?

Yet echoes rebound in perpetuity

Lies infiltrate even dreams

I hear them whisper in The Scream

What the tongue can't speak cannot be believed?

Yet thought is conquered by cheap speak

If you want to recognise the truth

Take a look upon the sole of your boot

What the hand can't touch cannot be conceived?

And yet all life's pains are inside me

The mighty questions can descend

To a single thing touched, heard, spoken or read

I feel it in my fingers

Some gossamer thread

Everything's connected

Inside my head

Somebody else's problem

April 19th

Drawing by Christine Adams


22/36

It can't always all be

An endless violent rage

From time to time to time theDarkest storms must break

In the torrid torrent of

Desolate driving rains

I am bleakly broken

And in a broken daze

Sodden clumping clay sticks

To my garden spade -

It can't always all be

An endless violent rage

Scratchy

April 20th


23/36

I will not

Kiss you when my lips drip

With an acquired diseaseTouch you with soiled fingertips

However much you plead

Smear your body with my grease

To ease your troubled sleep

I will not

Bring you such bitter sweet relief

I will not

Love you with the open fist

That slams against the wall

Wear the mask of utter blissWhen you curl up small

Use my strength as a defence

Against your innocence

I will not

Seed my love in a life of discontent

I will not

Confuse my love

I will not

Refuse my love

I will not

Abuse my love

For my love's

Complete

I Will Not

April 21st


24/36

I wished you were a whore

Something to be bought

Handled fondled used abused

Soiled spoiled and future proofed

For the slightest glimpse of naked skin

Has me hooked and reeled in

And you deprecate yourself at will

As only private minds can do

And my most obvious part

Is but a sign of my beating heart

And I wish that we were more

Since first I wished you were a whore

Id buy that for a dollar

April 22nd



25/36

What is this pride I sometimes fake

When I'm in this accidental place

Where my father's seed did takeAnd slowly, slowly germinate ?

Do I really find I feel a pull

To england's ancient rolling hills?

Do I feel the sun is warmer still

Or the buildings any better built?

Does the rain fall any damper

Before it pours down the drains?

Are the people any the finer,

In this great island state?Do the girls bring me closer

To that immaculate grace?

Does the bitterest pill

Taste suddenly great?

Do I regret any sooner

Acting in haste?

Do I find any greater

Joy in my hate?

Is this england my england

Because I'm a mistake

Accidentally spawned

In the heart of this place?

What is this pride I sometimes fake

When I'm in this accidental place?

Patriot

April 23rd


26/36

My skin it is a canvass

And you can write on it

A haiku on my fingersAnd a sonnet on my dick

My eyes they are a camera

That you can operate

Postcards in my retinas

And pornos on the brain

My body it is marble

You can sculpt with it

Chisel out a roman nose

And a disturbing pair of tits

My essence is an ether

You can breathe it in

I'm nothing till you form me

From your sense of sin

Express Yourself

April 24th

Coffee Table Portrait No. 1


27/36

Have I a right to use my eyes?

To capture scenes of shock and awe

To propagate the truth as liesHave I a right then, to record?

To capture scenes of shock and awe

To claim them as my property

Have I a right then, to record?

For history makes a mockery

To claim them as my property

Those fleeting moments that I see

For history makes a mockery

Context frozen dubiously

Those fleeting moments that I see

Recorded in perpetuity

Context frozen dubiously

Hate yourself through the things I see

It's YOUR moment on stage

Your creeping old age

Your hair turning grey

Your forgotten yesterday

It's YOUR double chin

Your lopsided tits

Your toothless old grin

Your bloody beheading

If my eye offends thee

Then change the things you make me see

Recorded in perpetuity

To propagate the truth as lies

Hate yourself through the things I see

Have I a right to use my eyes?

Snapshot

April 25th

Coffee Table Portrait No. 2


28/36

I'm planting down my feet on

Bone shattering concrete

I'm dodging in betweenThe dog shit on the street

I'm breathing in these city fumes

Of lead and acid rain

I wonder if the sun will

Ever shine again

I'm passing by the cross bone gate

Where lay the Winchester Geese

Space is at a premium

So the dead don't rest in peace

Where among the rugged cobblesI spy a single leaf

For life is bursting through from

The very earth beneath

Steel and glass may seem so permanent

A scratching at the clouds

And people move like effluent

As they stream around

But in every micro meter

Evidence abounds

The scab of human nature

Will never bring me down

Green Spaces

April 26th


29/36

Integrity will impregnate

Those little things you find you do

Decisions that you find you makeIntegrity will impregnate

Each little daily bad mistake

Reflects the nature that is you

Integrity will impregnate

Those little things you find you do

White Lies

April 27th


30/36

I lack the wit

To be stupid

I can't pretendThat I am dense

I wish I were

A dim bonehead

Life is easy

When you're brain dead

Need a book to boil an egg

But think that books are dangerous

Working hard is for the plebs

It's my right to be famous

I got my anal boils on TVI am special look at me

Teacher said I'd come to nought

But what's the use of all your thought?

Geography's a mystery

Algebra is just all Greek

Evolution is too hard to spell

The gays are all condemned to hell

Stupid is as stupid does

Stupid people surround us

Justify their bigotry

By claiming to be feeble weak

Deny responsibility

For the evil that they speak

Stupid people are too smart

To be the ones that stand apart

Stoopid

April 28th

Drawing by Christine Adams


31/36

This page is left intentionally blank

I spent the day on a FURIOUS wank

Couplet

April 29th


32/36

What if this were to be the end of days?

The sun, the stars, the winds, the waves all spent

When hearts as one burst into fiery blaze

Would history be bright and full of praise

Would friends and neighbours wish you would

repent?


Did each kiss bestowed magically amaze?

Did each punch thrown land with a true intent?


Did your truth, finally, the lies out weigh?Did your deeds ascend to their fullest bent?


Did each dream evaporate in a haze?

Did each day appear as if heaven sent?


Or did your life mutate into a waste

Of good intentions that you never meant



End Of Days

April 30th


33/36

NaPoWriMo

I guess I may be a curmudgeon, but if you've read this far you'll know that. From my April

1st piece you'll see my first reaction to the whole write a poem a day idea was to slag off

the arrogance of so called poets treating words so blithely, shitting out sonnets and

vomiting up villanelles on demand. In reality though, I was just having a pop at the

anonymous London poetry scene out of the frustration that knowing people always

inevitably brings.

But after the first few days of April I found I was doing exactly that, writing a poem a day.

So just to torture myself I persevered. Than by the 8th, the month got interesting in a

landmark kind of way. That's when I decided to compile this journal. I'm not claiming the

work to be beautifully crafted, although it is crafted as beautifully as my brutish hands can

manage. I do hope that as time passes, because of the events we have lived through, it will

be an interesting slice of nostalgia.

I did of course cheat. Somedays writing two poems, somedays writing none. Some photos

were not taken on the day, and a few we're not taken by me at all. If that stuff bothers you,

then I'm sorry to have consumed your life. If it doesn't bother you then please join me in

thanking those who have unwittingly contributed: Calm Carl Chamberlain, Jane Taylor

and my ever suffering wife Christine Adams without whom I would be unable to unlock

any of this.

Ant, The GameCat, Smith

1st May 2013


34/36

NaPoWriMo


35/36

NaPoWriMo

Thank you for reading.Please do comment: [email protected]


36/36

NaPoWriMo


napowrimon 2013 - poety and photography journal

Documents