Poetry: Selections from Martin Appleby

THE QUEUE

Bootlickers and flagshaggers

queued for hours upon hours

upon hours

to pay respect

to their beloved Liz

but got mad when politicians

and celebrities

cut in line ahead of them

 

Completely oblivious

to the irony

to the obvious-to-everybody-fucking-else

metaphor

for their daily lives

living in a country

governed by the ruling class.

ANARCHY IN THE UK 2022

Yesterday was National Poetry Day

and I chose to work on my novella

instead of writing a new poem

 

Fuck you

I won't do what you tell me.

REBEL WITHOUT APPLAUSE

The rebellion will have to wait

until this hangover subsides

 

Please send thoughts and prayers

1 prayer = 1 like

 

Another day on a dying planet

spun around the embers of a dying sun

 

I have befriended all of my demons

and my heroes are still unsung

 

Running myself into the ground

sick of giving more than I ever take

 

Running towards an uncertain future

from a past none of us can escape

 

Running out of ideas

until I am booed off the metaphorical stage

 

The only thing that can save us now

is a 12pt font on a clean white page

 

Type until my fingers bleed

or until any of this shit makes sense

 

Which might be a while

because this hangover is fucking intense

 

Summon the help of a mythical deity

burn all scientists at the stake

 

Decoding ancient texts

anything published this century is fake

 

Pushing your buttons

just for something to do

 

Picking at my bones

giving you greasy, fatty morsels to chew

 

I'm a scammer, a fraud, a blagger, a bullshitter

no rebel, just a clown

 

I am a drunk walking a high wire

and the only way is down.

Martin Appleby is a punk, poet, vegetarian, cider drinking scumbag from Hastings, England. He runs Scumbag Press and edits Paper and Ink Literary Zine.