THE MAN WHO FELL IN
LOVE
He’d a fearless
reputation
for bar-room
brawling and
in particular
for vicious
head-butting
so when he let
go both
barrels from a
sawn-off
shotgun, through
a window,
the patrons
inside the bar
were taken by
surprise;
he spent 5 years
in
prison and his
stature
grew as a
hard-man, not
someone to
fuck-about
with;
not long after
his release
he fell in love
with a warm
and gentle and
petite
woman and the
transformation
was
shocking; he
stopped
drinking and
fighting and
he built a whole
new
rep for himself,
quiet and
obliging, polite
and
warm and
friendly,
but most still
kept their
distance from
him and
played along
with the
man who fell in
love.
John D Robinson
GIVE ME A PEN
Give me a pen
without guilt
without fear,
give me a pen
with grit
with balls,
give me a pen
without
prejudice
without
ambition,
give me a pen
with fire
with blood,
give me a pen
without regret
without longing.
give me a pen
with heart
with freedom
and I’ll give
you a poem
you can blow
up your ass.
John D Robinson
THE CANVAS
I’ve made little of what
I
was given and I
was given
nothing and it
was the best
thing that I’ve
ever been
given;
with nothing I
was given
the opportunity
to create,
to do something,
anything,
to wander
without ties,
bonds or
shackles,
without
expectations,
nothing to
stand-up
against and be
judged;
there was
fuck-all to
begin with, an
unblemished
canvas
to fuck-up all
by
myself and I’ve
given it my best
shot.
John D Robinson
A GOOD SUGGESTION
‘What the fuck is wrong
with
you two?’ one of
the 3 police
officers asked;
we were sat on
the floor,
propping each
other up and
grinning beneath
the bloodied
and bruised
facial injuries,
maybe we were
even holding
hands;
‘You moron’s
waste too much
police time’
said one of the
officers;
we began
giggling and
helping one
another onto
our unsteady
feet;
‘Just kill each
other quietly’
a police officer
suggested;
it was a
reasonable request
and made sense
and we sat
back down and
then
started
arm-wrestling.
John D Robinson
