My first full collection of poetry and flash fiction, published by Listen Softly London Press, is out now and available direct from the publisher here & from Amazon here.
Entitled Being With Me Will Help You Learn, the book contains 56 pieces originally published in magazines such as Envoi, Iota, the Alarmist, Rising, Push, Paper & Ink, Belleville Park Pages and Ink, Sweat and Tears.
Below is a poem featured in the collection:
PERVERT
I’ve only been living here for five weeks and already I’ve got a pervert climbing into my garden at night and hanging women’s underwear on my washing line. I’ve no idea who’s doing this, but all the villagers think the underwear is mine, and seem to see it as some kind of sign, a convenient excuse to make me the subject of intimidation and abuse. Once again, the postman has delivered his phlegm through the letter box. I’ve been left a black body bag by the waste disposal men. The council has granted my neighbours the exceptional right to play their music loud at night. In the street, as they pass, men make threats underneath their breath, and children flee, while women look at me with contempt and disgust. Kids shout “Pervert! Pervert!” as they push used condoms through my letter box. The word “PERVERT”, in red paint, has been daubed across my front door. At night, I can see the silhouette of the hooded pervert, accompanied now by a large gang, all of them helping to place women’s underwear on my washing line, and now it’s me who’s beginning to see it as some kind of sign…
