Category Archives: Poems

always the past demanding recognition a timeless torment beyond the turning wheel which is forever still clearing the sky the stones of blood purging the self of impure motivation doing right for the wrong reason it is the choice not made that matters as the common sewer takes you from distinction brings you to me

so many dead empires fragments sleeping flies on crumbled walls heroes unremembered now ruled by probability based theories gods of entertainment children worshipping avatars and with you nowhere to be seen contemplation is inevitable the now is gone leave just the frozen wind to wrestle

simple as a kiss this sullen dawn begins to tumble down along this strange cold road of slated roofs and places dark and when the perils untangle weary like a dream a lullaby there is no quarrel with the world

to sense death in a discarded cigarette smell terror in the rose or guilt in an un-swept corner is to understand Picasso or Nietzsche as flames of ice consume

philosophy theology psychology and death museums and libraries birth pool halls and pubs and collateral damage hunters gatherers shamans pantheons monsters of myth and of city states villains and vagabonds vagina dreams in a ceremony of solitude old men procure liquid legends reinvent all the gods and demons to quietly soothe the political brutalities ofContinue reading “Ceremony – John McAteer”

cranes climb a London sky windswept and cold taller than cathedral spires huge tower blocks and corporate structures a view surreal in the glow of dawn impressionist hues enchanting squealing views along suburban streets as the underground rumbles and a dog barks lighting a cigarette constructing the first coffee thoughts ramble to places and peopleContinue reading “Shoes – John McAteer”

I believe I would make a very good tree bending and swaying with all of it not breaking simply enduring I believe I would make a very good stone allowing the weather to be and I think I would make a splendid fire consuming all that we don’t need I believe I would make aContinue reading “Allowing the weather – John McAteer”

so many stood with secrets in their eyes as the cityscape spiralled behind and the sky a deeply bruised recipient of smoke and screams frightened souls brooded ghoulish above the flickering famished flames which clawed the tower the cladding as many stood in abject disbelief unable to assist as the pyrotechnic bedlam spat and chewedContinue reading “So many 14.06.2018 – John McAteer”

saddened by the world and the workings of men wounded and weary and fragile seething with rebellion pretty things he noticed though only in the abstract like special silences shouting indecipherable not unintelligent just struggling with the anguish of abandonment and the nights began to tumble as he stumbled through the cries in his headContinue reading “Silence – John McAteer”

rebelling in an austere fourth floor flat on Westbourne Grove with an English Aphrodite who carved reluctant patterns into limbs over memories remembered or constructed designer clothes and liquor bottles scattered bloodstains on the walls the splintered door small hours spiked with quarrels and ad-libbed conversation downloaded tunes and abstract youtube clips beyond the curtainContinue reading “2662 ghosts and angry gods – John McAteer”