To Be a Brick

My dying wish.

Is to become a brick.

I know, it sounds weird,

Perhaps even sick.

But I want my ashes mixed,

Into a brick.

Engrave it with a message

Insightful stories:

"This is Skeff, he says

'Fuck the Tories'".

I could be part of place,

that I hold dear.

Somewhere that loans books

Or is selling beer.

Maybe one journey.

How about London?

Pay a visit to 10 Downing,

Or 55 Tufton.

Their front rooms look nice.

Better than this locker.

Society's a Prison

Society's a prison,

Run for profit.

In which we're born,

Without permission.

It breaks your back.

Bleeds you dry.

Paying bills,

Until you die.

School is conditioning,

Gears for the machine.

Using mark schemes,

To kill your dreams.

Ready to work,

In the machine.

Up at dawn.

Enough coffee,

To endure the drive.

Making a fifty.

Earning a five.

Want to make art?

Enjoy life?

Tough shit.

No time for that.

In the machine.

Want to work less?

They'll raise your bills.

Living in fear,

Of losing it all.

Want to take, not toil?

The masters do.

And not  want you to.

Try it anyway,

Go to prison.

What's the difference?

Society's a prison.

The Fallacies of Sleep

I'm a night owl

In an early bird society

School days

Time to get up

Crack of dawn

Gotta catch a bus

Get to school

I'm tired

I can't think straight

The teacher doesn't give a toss

"Go to bed earlier"

Should have stayed in bed

Go home

Bedtime

Can't doze off

Lie in bed

Stare at the ceiling

It's the weekend

Lie in bed

Checks the time

7:00 am? Fuck!

Can't doze off

Now what

Get a job

Same old shit

Now with coffee

Need to be up

Still can't sleep

Think about things

I won't write down

Clocks go forward

That shit's the worst

First Monday,

"Oscar Day"

For the slapping urge

Lost in the Woods

The palm reader takes my hand
I see a man lost in the woods,

With no faith in the future,

Who feels persecuted by fate.

Little to look forward to,

And little to lose.

A man who drifts,

Like a leaf, on the wind.

Where the wind will take you,

I cannot say.

I see a man lost in the woods.

Who prefers it that way.

The Lumberjack's Axe

Head of steel
Body of wood
King of the forest

Fells the trees
Who pledge loyalty
A body of wood
Doesn't make a tree

The trees see
A body of wood
They support
They submit

To the King of the Forest
A royal puppet
To the hand
Which profits

The Tantalean Fate

Exam season, study all day

Get them over with.
Spend the time online.
Router dies.

The fruits of the tree,

Moved out of reach.

18th birthday, new PC.

Get the new games.

More exams on the way.

Need to revise.

Despite it being Christmas break.

Get them done, Time to play.

Video driver breaks.

The pool receded,

Before I could drink.

Summer's on the way.

Time to celebrate,

Before we all part ways.

Next step starts too soon.

No chance of summer holiday.

The fruits of the tree,

Moved out of reach.

Six years pass.

Go to university.

Enjoy life for once.

Parties and socials.

Taken away,

By a viral outbreak.

The pool receded,

Before I could drink

What is happening?

Is this punishment?

Like that of Tantalus?

The fruits of the tree,

Moved out of reach,

The pool receded,

Before I could drink.

I didn't eat anybody.

End of an Era

Assignments done.

Finished with uni

Waiting the degree.

Time to kick back

Time to party,

But there's nobody.

Pubs are shut,

Classmates remote,

Tired of Zoom.

A virtual social

No takers.

Just a cheeky Domino's,

And a bottle of wine

To drown my sorrows.

Pubs re-opened.

Seeing photos.

Getting FOMO.

Is this it?

Three years,

And no farewell?

What next?