Three Poems by Ford Dagenham

MOVIE GARDEN PM

steel planes scratch straight white flames over the sky.

placing the coffee cup on a chair I pull the chair nearer

with

the

hand

that’s

not

holding

a

book.

out here in castle grounds the quiet of mowers and the fence kids loud cries of fun and quick horror

form

an

ambient

movie

I

will

call

The Sun Is Hot.

pages flare with nuclear glare and when the clock says

5 or 6 or 7 or 8 I will drink something harder.

inside

later

this

happens

and

lonely and empty things riot on the borders of plastic zen.

quiet finger-winds blow on yellow brick outside.

this forms an ambient movie I call

The

Witness

Of

A

Mute

TV.

stare at the phone ringing like a fool in a movie

I call Black And White Coda.

ACCIDENT IN THE HOME

hammers from hard ground going at it in my head.

the

house

is

full

of howling dogs today.

whisky hangover again I never learn.

near gone gin bottle falling off the fridge

breaks

my

left index toe.

I say

CUNT!

28 times

then open some wine

and

watch

it

change

colours

and

swell.

NURSES

work in a hospital eye always out for a compassionate and giving nurse

with

sparkles

of

intelligence

in

her

tawny

eyes

but even all the rough and large ones have dull and bald men

to

drop

them off in the morning.