When I was inside

When I was inside

When I was inside, outside I heard a man
Shouting nonsense.
What a Racket. I imagined flying spittle
and shining eyes,
A frothy mouthful of tongues,
his tangled mind.
But under my window his garble unfurled
and words leapt up
to patter like stones.
Spotlight, flashlight.
He sang upwards, outwards,
his voice bouncing between the houses
like a pinball,
trapped.
Neon light, neon light.
So the sky, a lofty grey,
Heard only aeroplanes.


Anya Pearson

Botox on the beach

Here's a poem from one of inc's regular contributors, a summery number live from LA.

Enjoy!


Botox on the Beach

There's botox on the beach,
There's silicon in the sand,
Poseidon's striding out the sea with a scalpel in his hand,

Get your extra dark sunglasses
Cos your eyes refuse to squint,
They didn't mention that when you were reading the small print,

Now someone's spiked my sunblock
With anti-aging cream,
I'm told it will revitalise my shrivelled self-esteem,

Sip your collagen colada
As you lie beneath the palms,
And pray that someday you too can have abnormally muscular arms,

The freakshow's going bankrupt,
Cos their curiosities
Are positively normal next to this mutant species,

The promenade's just been enlarged,
The boardwalk's been augmented,
The lifeguard's hut has been enhanced and still they're not contented.

There's botox on the beach
And the surfers are getting frantic,
Someone smoothed out the wrinkles on the surface of the Atlantic

Joel Sharples