My long time friend and some time mentor, Brian Topping, surprised me recently by revealing that he turned his hand to the occasional poem. Had for many years. Even had something published in a journal edited by Seamus Heaney in his younger days.
Clearly I had to see something. So Brian sent me three quite different but equally thought provoking pieces. Here they are, who knows, there may be more……
Steve Bishop
Assassinating Sooty
it was always an unlikely mission
after all Sooty is inanimate
unless
like a vet helping a pregnant cow
someone
anyone
puts a hand up his arse
it gets worse
his voice edges on silent
his nose has to be in your ear
to make himself heard
he is also cute
super cute
his demise
would provoke Dianna scale grief
it is mission impossible
so I have given up
killing innocence
and retired into adulthood
(for William Blake)
Post-industrial dawn chorus
Hearing the blackbird
I felt for a moment
like nothing else existed
one of those moments
when the past is not a reality
the future no longer a concern
such moments
lock out light and dark
transform the precious present
then he stops
I stop
return to my coffee
and the concerns
of being awake too early
Palestine video
this seems unreal
but the evidence
..the reality is here
rockets..
…..grenades
tank shells..
…..bullet casings
broken children..
…..crimson sand
pan left pan right
no wind
weeping flags
Brian Topping
valparaisobooks 