WITH WHITEHOUSE AS BACKDROP

Suffer Liberty's landlady to be muzzled,

a Main Street accomplice

or a gone-by Virginian range trustee.

And won't she be the goodness

for front porch trumps,

the President's candle holder,

tongue-tied, so mumbling.

She'll tame

for a Kodak likeness,

gloss the round-of-visits in a pitiless razzle-dazzle.

---------------------------

WITH WATER ONCE DAILY

This magic bullet's chemicodynamic sunshine,

huffs-up eurythmical goings-on,

fattens appetites,

rehabilitates the pertinence

of in-keeping employments.

You'll be friskier in the tissues

if die-hard flushing doesn't detonate the all-overs,

slumberland days, cracker-dry mouth, fuzz-focused vision,

rattle brain dizziness, cold outs, vertigo,

pitapat blood-beats, backstopped pees.

For in-the-pip mental health

we'll wrick your bouncing hearts.

---------------------------------

"WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF BILLY...

THE WORLD'S FIRST OUT & PROUD GAY DOLL!"

mail order advertisement

O my Billy doll, you cue

cut-free milliseconds of high summer,

when the bayberry hemorrhaged

in the Fahrenheit thermals of Corsica.

Of the thrum of milch cows kicking

up the wizened climb, the white noise

of leaf-hoppers urging in the sun

and dusks of fitful dancing.

The gloop-gloop of liquor from nearby bottles,

and he who is now gone

snuggling through the darkfall.

Of all the starburst trophies

the one he gave was you.

Some bio details...

in 1998 I won a Northern Arts writers award. In July 2000 I read at Waterstones bookshop to promote the anthology 'Titles Are Bitches.' Christmas 2001 I debuted at Newcastle's famous Morden Tower doing a reading of my poems. Each year I read for the Proudwords lesbian and gay writing festival and I partake in workshops. 2005 saw the publication of my collection LOVEBITES published by Chanticleer Press, 6/1 Jamaica Mews, Edinburgh.

On Saturday 16Th August 2003 I read at the Edinburgh Festival as a Per Verse poet at LGBT Centre, Broughton St.

I also have a BBC webpage at bbc.co.uk/tyne/gay.2004/05/section_28.shtml and bbc.co.uk/tyne/videonation/stories/gay_history.shtml (if first site does not work click on SECTION 28 on second site.

During Christmas 2001 The Northern Cultural Skills Partnership sponsored me to be mentored by Andy Croft in conjunction with New Writing North. I made a radio programme for Web FM community radio about my writing group. October-November 2005, I entered a poem/visual image into the art exhibition The Art Cafe Project, his piece Post-Mark was shown in Betty's Newcastle. This event was sponsored by Pride On The Tyne. I made a digital film with artists Kate Sweeney and Julie Ballands at a film making workshop called Out Of The Picture which was shown at the festival party for Proudwords, it contains my poem The Old Heave-Ho. I worked on a collaborative art and literature project called How Gay Are Your Genes, facilitated by Lisa Mathews (poet) which exhibited at The Hatton Gallery, Newcastle University, including a film piece by the artist Predrag Pajdic in which I read my poem On Brenkley St. The event was funded by The Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Institute, Bio-science Centre at Newcastle's Centre for Life. I was involved in the Five Arts Cities poetry postcard event which exhibited at The Seven Stories children's literature building. In May I had 2006 a solo art/poetry exhibition at The People's Theatre why not take a look at their website http://ptag.org.uk/whats_on/gallery/recent_exhbitions.htm

The South Bank Centre in London recorded my poem "The Holiday I Never Had", I can be heard reading it on www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/record.asp?id=18456

REVIEWS: I have written poetry reviews for Poetry Scotland and Jacket Magazine and in August 2007 I made a film called 'A Blank Screen, 60 seconds, 1 shot' for Queerbeats Festival at The Star & Shadow Cinema Newcastle, reviewing a poem...see www.myspace.com/queerbeatsfestival On September 4 2010, I read at the Callander Poetry Weekend hosted by Poetry Scotland.