For those who like titles;

[Watson]

Salty Water


Pour salt into water:
rinse and spit.
Repeat.

Useful for wisdom teeth, sore gums, tooth decay and enamel rot.

Inexplicable rashes, bruises in the shape of possibly someone you know, grass stains, itchy backs and noses, broken legs (not arms); a craving for chocolate-rolled foudant, courtesy of somebody; nervous toes and hay fever are helped.

But there's more,
so I'll let you in on a little secret.

Destructive arguments, war, the missing TV remote, demonic possessions, terminal illnesses, the mid-life crisis--

death

--and a broken heart,

are all things of the past.

[Watson]

Anything Can Fly

See yourself flying,
and below you:
boats.

Schooners and Sharpies,
Cutters and Catboats
catching the wind
to sail the unknown skies.

Imagine boats can fly.

Yes,
just like you,
your wings wide and strong.

In fact,
choose anything.

You don’t need boats.

They could be king-sized beds,
their pillows the hot air balloons.

You could land on them;
ride them like magic carpets,
if you’re feeling tired.

So lay down,
rest

and imagine yourself flying.

[Watson]

The Greatest Chandelier

Every morning I wake to the sound
of engineers clanging
and operators raising the crane.

People can’t see them,
for their orange safety vests
are invisible to the world.

Because the sun
is a giant, whirring machine.
It consists of billions of miniature bulbs,

flashing gold-white light
as the greatest chandelier imagined.
The workers, hired for this one purpose,

tirelessly lift the sphere,
the sphere essential to our existence;
its fragile sheen teetering

on the single point,
the black void,
the construction site.

Then when their work is done
they perch on the clouds
and pick at tuna sandwiches.

They watch the world rise,
and they watch the world wander
before they unhook the sun from its height,

and nobody knew they existed.

[Watson]

Travels to Space on Exotic Creatures

Believe me,
it's quite possible.

Simply click your tongue three times,
maybe four
and state the magic words:

then wait--

you'll be on the back of a giant squid,
otherwise known as the Architeuthis,
or wizard of the sea.

Mesmerised by its inky dreamy spells,
you'll travel through the sky
to the edge of the earth.

And there you will find,
if you look so carefully,

where the humpback whales debate over the mysteries of life,
over a toast of planets
and exotic stars.

[Watson]

The Life of a Gull

When the gulls come of age,
they leave the cliffs that hide them.

Their mothers and fathers send them off
on a quest to change them.

They follow a human boat
around the vast seas:

Past silver beaches,
and over dancing reefs.

Dark spirits shall taunt them
and storms shall veer them,

but with the strongest hearts,
they shall persevere.

They will return to the cliffs
where they were born,

their wings beating still,
and their strength tired and beat.

Their mothers and fathers
welcome them with open arms,

and they settle down
to live the life of a gull.

[Watson]

and it's tomorrow,
the day that goes by
and it's tomorrow,
the day that goes by
to the next day
and the next day
and the next day,
to the one-way street
and the single lane
and the storm's chasing you
to the next day
and the next day
where the coffin's waiting.

[Watson]

I'd like to swim,

fast.

Faster than the Sailfish,
highly prized
and quick with the sword.

As agile as the Wahoo,
dancing with the hook
in parties larger than life.

To shadow the Bonefish phantoms,
tasting the mudflats;
and sliding through premier waters.

Escape is not easy:
the sharks with human teeth
do not give up.

[Watson]

The woman stared with a mind of her own
and blank.
Where do I go from here?
The woman stared where?
Her eyes are visionless. Her goals an uncarved stone.
She is standing in nothing,
a cold shower of doubt.
The block has killed again.
My pen cannot write her.
She is dead,
and I have thrown her to the grave
and from her rises a new body.
A new soul.
A new story.

[Watson]

The Green Man

The green man:
I always see him walking,
just beyond my crimson feet
to a place I'll never know.

My hands are red,
my feet are red
and I prefer to stand.

I can never quite catch him,
no matter how hard I try.

I wait and I stare
at impatient faces,
impatient feet
and impatient hands

groping,
STABBING
that button they depend on.

I know,
I accept,
they want me gone.

They want the green man.

He is loved,
because he walks.
He is the Pied Piper,
right across the road.

[Watson]

Bittersweet Fairtrade juice and the wrapper of a missing chocolate bar,
left behind.

Sound the alarm! sound the alarm!
Time has come to keep on working,
else the night will creep down your arms
and curl around your fingers,
until you find yourself seduced
by the Google search bar.