FünFzig

The will of the people, the will of the people 

Village green cricket, Jerusalem steeples
Miniver choir-song, chip butty seagulls
Elizabeth's corgis, Shakespeare and the Beatles

The will of the people, the will of the people
A vote barely clinched by fine twitch of a needle
Proud Unionists gloomy but flag-wavers gleeful
Stuff Juncker and Merkel euu twin-headed evils

The will of the people, the will of the people
This shriek popping eardrums from Strasbourg to Schipol
Commissioners panic, bells clang through cathedrals
 Whilst headlines scream dread in Le Monde and Der Speigel

The will of the people, the will of the people
Our table is set yet the menu's deceitful
There's an entrée of turmoil, the main reads "upheaval":
Juat inedible hash masked with diplomat's treacle

The will of the people, oh the will of the people
Dunkerque and Hong Kong ring like faraway prequels
May-Boudicca's trigger be ready and regal
Her nation's uncertain: emboldened...enfeebled?

©AHealy2017

Blues of Charon

Sticks and stones might break my bones
But it's the Achilles heel by which I'm thrown
The poisoned dart of bayou foam
Seeps far too deep for rinsing

I've canned it, spanned it, surf its' stew
Past septic shards guide shrinking crew:
Vile-rumoured, sludge-stirred, Stygian goo
My gypsy's curse keeps slurping

Yaw, roll and pitch, I scour for tricks
Some snake-glass cure, some psychic fix
Insomnious germ that screams its drip
Chokes outrage quietly moaning

My wound's contused and bruised and raw
And long-foiled hopes disease the core:
A stable base, a roof, a floor
Such basic need I'm bleeding

As charm fights smarm for hallowed land
Corruptive truths fuel bunkered plans
To pile, to freeze the quickened sand
Which mires this "band-aid" living

So be smart, play mean, enlist extremes
Deploy what's left of righteous genes
And excise, despatch this sorry scene
To a fevered dream's retelling

©Ahealy 2011

STORY

Le Crunch

Vultures are circling
Dark clouds overhead
As if borne on the spiraling
Charges for bread
They’re drawn by the nervousness
Fear and mistrust
That comes when the cycle
Turns boom-time to bust
The outlook is gloomy
Shows difficult times
‘Neath an ominous shadow
In shape Twenty-Nine.
Markets get jumpy
High-fliers sweat
Banks tighten purse strings
Their borrowers fret
As interest rates bite those
Who struggle to pay
Repo-men gather
Like wolves stalking prey
Share values tumble
Oil prices rise
Businesses flounder
In the poisonous tide
Job-cuts are widespread
Services dumped
All fallen victim
To the deepening slump
Inflation keeps climbing
Life savings soon spent
Whilst strikes simply add to
The mass discontent
“Crisis? What crisis?”
Our leaders will wail
Whilst one after t'other
Their remedies fail
When society searches
For someone to frame
Scapegoats are hunted:
The vulnerable blamed

So start digging trenches
Re-double the guard
Turn down the heating
Cut up your cards
Cancel those holidays
Garage that car
Stop ordering take-outs
Quit going to bars
Count out kept silver
From the old shrapnel jar
Just stock basic foodstuffs
As if expecting to starve
Prepare for the worst that
Recession might bring
Because we might wait some time
For the pendulum’s swing

©Ahealy 2008

STORY

Misery Line

"A fare freeze?
Ooh Ken you tease
It's been some time since one of these"
Quoth passenger upon her knees
A victim of the rush-hour squeeze.
"I've heard it's timed to coincide..."
One disembodied voice replied
Just as the doors complete their slide
To jam his cries and her purse inside
She sighed

"It must be an election year"

©Ahealy 2008

STORY

No Mad

Haul up the anchor get ready to cast off
Wave goodbye to Mohammed in the corner shop
Stuff half your life in a cardboard box
Like the gypsy whose lifestyle you share

Pin the tail on the donkey find a page on the map
Stop the mail change your number and arrange for the cat
Get a lid for those memories of your sweet little flat
Cos no one but you really cares

Abandon quaint parks, street benches you've warmed
Feel yet strangely maudlin 'bout neighbours once scorned
Bite hard on that lip though and try not to mourn
Someone else will inhabit your lair

So hoist up the mainsail when there's nary a wind
And envisage an end to this ceaseless wandering
Meantime think Masai, Inuit or Bedouin
You ain't really going nowhere

©Ahealy 2007

Never a Frown

Oh Mr Brown's a thief I think
He'd nick your fags and swipe your drink
Prepare your heart to further sink
He wants to be our leader
Grand master of the cure-all fix
Sees yearly his red box of tricks
Hold much less carrot and far more stick
He wants to be our leader
From stamp duty to VAT
It's serial stealth we all agree
Means more to pay for you and me
He wants to be our leader
You know it's gone beyond a joke
When once again he's pulling strokes
To mug you off and rob your folks
He wants to be our leader
Still Gordy eyes a move next door
Whilst Tony's on his goodbye tour
To heal the sick and feed the poor
He wants to be our leader
Tune up that prudent Scottish guile
Increase the spin, invent some style
Shake baby's hand and paint on smiles
He wants to be our leader
Cue nauseous pre election sight
As round him crowd old acolytes
To cough back up their tired soundbites
He wants to be our leader
'Spite interest rates and Bagdhad burns
From answers straight he'll twist and squirm
So close to that long-promised term
He wants to be our leader
A painless coup transfers the reins
Boasts nothing new yet talks of change
I think we're in for more of same
He's actually now our leader


©Ahealy 2007

STORY

WanTonDotCom

A petri dish for weirdos
where opinions foam unbound
Soup laced with ambiguity
at a banquet set for clowns

A toxic brew of forums
spiced with endless mail and chat
Shot thru with spam and pop-ups
that make it taste like crap

Side orders marked for paedos,
fundamentals or plain daft
Bowls full of anonymity
to disguise the less than smart

A webcam here some podcasts there
conspiracies half formed;
A bubbling broth of blogs and links
served on a bed of porn

They're rolling out the bandwidth
to bake a bigger pie
Its crust so dense and nutty masks
a filling stuffed with lies

Propaganda's on the menu
useless info's in the stew
Just auto-fill your numbers please
we're shopping for you too

Still I love the dark rich flavours
tho my palate bears the stain
From the sour and bitter aftertaste
of the crazy and deranged

©Ahealy 2007