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Slinky Espadrilles by Ash Dickinson SAMPLE POEMS
Slinky Espadrilles by Ash Dickinson SAMPLE POEMS
ASH DICKINSON


Slinky Espadrilles




    Burning Eye
DRIVE-BY POETRY

      I was a victim of drive-by poetry
      assaulted with Rudyard Kipling
  by two rude boys in a souped-up coupe
        flashing past me up Broadway
               speeding puddles
            on to drainpipe trousers

      later they shock an elderly couple
     with shouted snatches of T.S. Eliot
          haring around a blind spot
               then up George
  blaring Blake from blacked-out windows

       a police spokesman yesterday
         played down the incidents
               as nothing new

people have been terrified of poetry for years
                  he said




                      2
GLASS COFFIN COFFEE TABLE WIFE

stiff under magazines in the afterlife
Glass Coffin Coffee Table Wife
she’d been married to a charmer
an enthusiastic embalmer
so when death claimed her/ he framed her
laid her down, took off her glasses
preserved her with gases
till death us do part
she’s now a work of art
with a hot / mug / mark

inseparable in life, inseparable in death
invited round to meet the old ball and chain
lift up your chips, sonny
she’s there- smiling squarely through the pane
in life, she’d cooked all his meals
now, she’s been fitted with wheels
he pushes her to the supermarket
once more down the aisle
she doubles up as a shopping cart
loaded down with pies, pasties, pastries
toasties, tasties and tarts
she’s surprisingly little trouble to park
this work of art
with a hot / mug / mark

February, a burglary
he awakes to find his DVD/ CD/ TV/ gone
and so is she
his taxidermy bride/ alive on the outside
her absence highlights how the sun has dyed the carpet
he doesn’t report it to the police-
too inconsolable with grief
broken-hearted for his clear-departed
months later/ he/ too/ dies
at the same time in the capital
a dead woman, in a glass coffin
scoops the Turner Prize




                               3
taken in the dark, displayed as objet d’art
forever more, a work of art
with a hot/ mug/ mark




                                4
THE BICYCLE

the work goes/ the shops close/ the boredom grows/ the
grown-ups he knows dream so small/ they seem not to dream
at all

seventeen/ not a bean to his name/ the facile papers he rest his
paints upon/ ooze parties and fame/ speak another language-
ridiculous in this setting/ the tagging is his expression/ to this
town set adrift/ to the blood-letting

another kick-heel night/ he comes across the carcass of a
mountain bike/ it’s still tethered as it was last night/ only
they’ve stripped it clean/ entrails of brake levers/ its gloopy
blood/ inks the scrub/ a sickly green

eight days he walks past/ notes weeds wriggle and slither
through squat grass/ poke through spokes and make the only
claim/ and finally he takes the chain in his hands and cuts it free

drags that sad machinery past white-washed shops/ and
beleaguered cops/ the wind-whipped faces of mid-morning
sops

the boarded-up post office/ the rapacious moss/ the dusty
sympathy of the elderly/ the knife-edge conviviality of the
neighbourhood

the frame is strong/ before long he masters the buckle/ retrieves
a front tyre from the canal/ a short paddle to a saddle- it’s
useable

forgotten hunger/ missed meals/ scouring ripples of rust from
the rim with a rounded knife/ the fork/ the chain-wheel

old and woolly biscuits tins/ within his grandfather’s shed/
bequeath nuts and thread/ his stained-prints pan gold/ hold
allen keys/ twist and turn with expertise/ at ease/ he doesn’t
think those things

give someone purpose/ fill their chest with pride/ and when all
the parts are in place/ you can ride/ you can ride it away

or you can stay

stay/ and turn a bit of the world/ your way


                                5
THE BOY WHO ATE ONLY BUTTER

as a boy, I ate only butter
thick golden slices straight from the fridge
or spooned
on unending summer evenings
as it pooled, left out
into winner’s medals

some nights it was impossible to tell
where sun ended and butter began

despairing
my parents lashed it on everything
but I steered a path around
wolfed it down/ before it melted in
I was a stubborn child
butter was all I craved

I was twelve when Mum
brought home something new-
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter
just try it she said, sliding the tub towards me
we have to tighten our belts
with your Dad’s job uncertain
and TV insists it’s the same

sceptically, I lifted the lid
inside was what looked like mince
a scoop of mash, some terrified peas
a small portion of sherry trifle
and two sticky and loose After Eight mints

and people mistook this for butter!
I couldn’t believe it!
my parents hovered like fireflies-
hot-eyed and scarcely breathing
transfixed as I tentatively dipped
into that patchwork spread-
it was the oddest butter I’d ever tried!

and yet the strangest thing was this-



                                 6
every time we ran out a new tub would arrive
looking utterly different to the one that came before it!
at times it resembled ham
or bananas, hazelnuts, cream cheese
spaghetti, green beans
and just once, dizzyingly, profiteroles

I told Mum I thought
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter was magic
I’m not sure she understood
for whilst doing other things
she lightly ruffled my fringe
and said/ she thought I would

placing a new tub in front of me
her smile serene/ and buttery
she said it’s likely/ this one
has undertones
of fish cakes




                                 7

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Slinky Espadrilles by Ash Dickinson SAMPLE POEMS

  • 4. DRIVE-BY POETRY I was a victim of drive-by poetry assaulted with Rudyard Kipling by two rude boys in a souped-up coupe flashing past me up Broadway speeding puddles on to drainpipe trousers later they shock an elderly couple with shouted snatches of T.S. Eliot haring around a blind spot then up George blaring Blake from blacked-out windows a police spokesman yesterday played down the incidents as nothing new people have been terrified of poetry for years he said 2
  • 5. GLASS COFFIN COFFEE TABLE WIFE stiff under magazines in the afterlife Glass Coffin Coffee Table Wife she’d been married to a charmer an enthusiastic embalmer so when death claimed her/ he framed her laid her down, took off her glasses preserved her with gases till death us do part she’s now a work of art with a hot / mug / mark inseparable in life, inseparable in death invited round to meet the old ball and chain lift up your chips, sonny she’s there- smiling squarely through the pane in life, she’d cooked all his meals now, she’s been fitted with wheels he pushes her to the supermarket once more down the aisle she doubles up as a shopping cart loaded down with pies, pasties, pastries toasties, tasties and tarts she’s surprisingly little trouble to park this work of art with a hot / mug / mark February, a burglary he awakes to find his DVD/ CD/ TV/ gone and so is she his taxidermy bride/ alive on the outside her absence highlights how the sun has dyed the carpet he doesn’t report it to the police- too inconsolable with grief broken-hearted for his clear-departed months later/ he/ too/ dies at the same time in the capital a dead woman, in a glass coffin scoops the Turner Prize 3
  • 6. taken in the dark, displayed as objet d’art forever more, a work of art with a hot/ mug/ mark 4
  • 7. THE BICYCLE the work goes/ the shops close/ the boredom grows/ the grown-ups he knows dream so small/ they seem not to dream at all seventeen/ not a bean to his name/ the facile papers he rest his paints upon/ ooze parties and fame/ speak another language- ridiculous in this setting/ the tagging is his expression/ to this town set adrift/ to the blood-letting another kick-heel night/ he comes across the carcass of a mountain bike/ it’s still tethered as it was last night/ only they’ve stripped it clean/ entrails of brake levers/ its gloopy blood/ inks the scrub/ a sickly green eight days he walks past/ notes weeds wriggle and slither through squat grass/ poke through spokes and make the only claim/ and finally he takes the chain in his hands and cuts it free drags that sad machinery past white-washed shops/ and beleaguered cops/ the wind-whipped faces of mid-morning sops the boarded-up post office/ the rapacious moss/ the dusty sympathy of the elderly/ the knife-edge conviviality of the neighbourhood the frame is strong/ before long he masters the buckle/ retrieves a front tyre from the canal/ a short paddle to a saddle- it’s useable forgotten hunger/ missed meals/ scouring ripples of rust from the rim with a rounded knife/ the fork/ the chain-wheel old and woolly biscuits tins/ within his grandfather’s shed/ bequeath nuts and thread/ his stained-prints pan gold/ hold allen keys/ twist and turn with expertise/ at ease/ he doesn’t think those things give someone purpose/ fill their chest with pride/ and when all the parts are in place/ you can ride/ you can ride it away or you can stay stay/ and turn a bit of the world/ your way 5
  • 8. THE BOY WHO ATE ONLY BUTTER as a boy, I ate only butter thick golden slices straight from the fridge or spooned on unending summer evenings as it pooled, left out into winner’s medals some nights it was impossible to tell where sun ended and butter began despairing my parents lashed it on everything but I steered a path around wolfed it down/ before it melted in I was a stubborn child butter was all I craved I was twelve when Mum brought home something new- I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter just try it she said, sliding the tub towards me we have to tighten our belts with your Dad’s job uncertain and TV insists it’s the same sceptically, I lifted the lid inside was what looked like mince a scoop of mash, some terrified peas a small portion of sherry trifle and two sticky and loose After Eight mints and people mistook this for butter! I couldn’t believe it! my parents hovered like fireflies- hot-eyed and scarcely breathing transfixed as I tentatively dipped into that patchwork spread- it was the oddest butter I’d ever tried! and yet the strangest thing was this- 6
  • 9. every time we ran out a new tub would arrive looking utterly different to the one that came before it! at times it resembled ham or bananas, hazelnuts, cream cheese spaghetti, green beans and just once, dizzyingly, profiteroles I told Mum I thought I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter was magic I’m not sure she understood for whilst doing other things she lightly ruffled my fringe and said/ she thought I would placing a new tub in front of me her smile serene/ and buttery she said it’s likely/ this one has undertones of fish cakes 7