Author Archives: Christopher Perry

Liberté, Equalité, Humanité

on Platform 2

This is Woking
...if you see something that doesn't look right
speak to a member of staff or contact British Transport Police
text 61016
see it say it sorted
this is your conductor
welcome aboard this South-West Trains service to London Waterloo
you can find me towards the middle
of this ten coach train
the next stop will be London Waterloo
estimated time of arrival at our final destination
is 14:22
Woking, this is Woking

Looks ordinary enough
so, why are the Tories at war with Woking?

~

CLP 07/10/2021

on the island

caught against a wall
colour diluted by headlights
fox trotting through town

~

n.b. Foxes in Portsmouth scavenge by night, gulls by day.

CLP 06/10/2021

on the sea

ocean green tides shift
stones, open cliffs, crack concrete
we'll return to it

~

CLP 05/10/2021

on London

taxing the low paid
while laundering millions
tennis with BoJo

~

n.b. It’s wrong. London’s financial machinery is central to money laundering crime world-wide. See the Pandora Papers for more.

CLP 05/10/2021

on autumn iii

it's been so still
humid air weighing on us all
weary from sleepless nights
from self-medicated sleep
from restless waking
from waking alone

and now the leaves move
trees sigh at their relief
the wind tunes up
wheezy gaps in windows and doors ajar
asthmatic whistling of telephone cables
clinking lines on masts
waves thick enough to roll the shingle
to slap the seawall
spit over its parapet
and bounce back to sea

this cool sou'westerly
freshens up the air
brings on the rain
brings me sleep
alone or not

~

CLP 04/10/2021

on autumn ii

abundance of fruit
kaleidoscope of colour
excess of weather

~

CLP 04/10/2021

on autumn

here she comes
bowling in, late again
unapologetic, slamming doors
throwing her rain-drenched coat on the hallway floor
yes, beautiful colours
striking markings
your beauty gets you off the hook
eventually
after the initial shock of your abrupt arrival
and a cup of tea
we'll snuggle down
wrap up all cosy 
relish the dark evenings
together

~

CLP 01/10/2021

on fear

fight or flight or freeze
or stand up and face it down
no need to voice it

~

n.b. Does speaking of it make what is feared more likely, or less so?

CLP 30/09/2021

on time

cannot be parcelled
pulled from a hat as required
we swim in its flow

~

CLP 30/09/2021

on fumes

how long was it, a week?
long enough to know
it was long enough

~

CLP 29/09/2021