Poems by Andy Conner

Food For Thought

Untouchable

Love In…

 

 

 

Andy Conner is a Birmingham, UK-based poet and educator, with a long track record of performing his work nationally and internationally. His work has also featured in numerous publications. His credits include BBC Radio 4, Jaipur Literature Festival and India International Centre. Recent publications include Ancient Paths (June 2019), Muse India (May 2020), Setu Bilingual (May 2020), The Bombay Review (June 2020), Dissident Voice (June 2020), Tree House (July 2020) and Mad Swirl (July 2020).

 

Untouchable

 

 

On my recent trip

to Gujarat

 

I took

numerous

pretty photographs

 

of Modhera

Palitana

Dwarka

The White Desert

 

and other pretty places

 

but

 

the image

I can’t delete

from my heart

 

my hard drive

 

is of a ragged street child

at Vastrapur Lake

who stepped out

from the promenading crowd

 

raised

his left

index finger

into the stifling

late afternoon

 

air

 

and drew

a rectangle

to take

an imaginary selfie

 

with me

 

© Andy Conner

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Food For Thought

 

 

‘A poem was never worth as much as a dinner’

 

 

                                                Joseph Berchoux, poet, his works include ‘La Gastronomie’

 

 

 

as a poet

prudently healthy

in rickety, food bank Britain 

 

(and is the rest of the

well stocked world

any different?)

 

I don’t have a guilty conscience

but I feel conscientiously guilty

 

if my words could really be eaten

 

I would write

ravenously

voraciously

if every verbal flourish

could nourish

 

those who are rumbling

for a bellyful more than culture

those picked clean

by vultures

 

and there’s the rub

the salt in the wound

grind it in deeply

(we absorb it all so deeply)

my fine company

of budget line activists

breadline raconteurs

 

(I’m not trying to cod you

my situation

is anywhere near the worst)

 

 

 

 

 

Heaney

harvester

of solid Irish staples

potatoes and milk

not the faintest scrape of famine

in his wholesome words

 

Hughes

cruelly organic

the leanest meat

visceral

dripping

no time for pretty packaging

 

 

Ferlinghetti

                                       spaghetti lines

                                                                                    to the very end of the horizon

 

 

non-perishable

                                                    easily digestible

                                                                                                                  accessible to all

 

 

 

(and at his side

Ginsberg

plentiful enough

to keep the little ones from howling)

 

Caribbean Nichols

succulent

a feast of natural sugars

indulge

salivate

 

an extra serving of laureates

Armitage

carefully measured rations

home delivered with a joke

with compassion

citric Duffy

acid tongued fount of vitamin c

 

(for vit d

how about The Bard himself

a delightful punnet of summer

if ever there was one)

 

this menu isn’t only set in the west

arigato

Haiku

compact yet perfectly balanced

all you need

in a single mouthful

served with rice paper

exquisiteness

 

am I being too serious

too po-faced

dip into Ayres

scoffed at as candyfloss

who doesn’t need

an occasional sweet treat

just remember to brush your teeth

 

a bit too much to swallow

a dry throat croak

swig Dharker’s blessing

of H20

certified safe

for all to consume

or if so disposed

imbibe the spirits

of Thomas and Behan

two true drops of the hard stuff

 

if words could really be eaten

maybe it would be different

 

in France

where Michelin starred poets traipse away

to prosaic jobs

tales between their legs

mutts without bones

 

and will it leave a bad taste

if I fish for a miracle

 

wonder

if Plath might have

changed her mind

 

savoured

the unleavened verse

she was preparing

 

set it aside to rest

saved the oven for baking

 

 

 

© Andy Conner

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Love In…

 

Today

in McDonalds

 

I saw…

 

A woman

with a face

like the sludge

on her boots

 

A man spitting

into a plastic cup

 

A man

chastise his son

with the C word

 

A woman

forgotten

by hope

 

A backside

that never savours home cooking

 

A pair

of cracked statues

 

A guy talking into his phone

as if

he were alone

 

A woman

forgotten

by everyone

 

Their kids all ate happy meals

 

 

© Andy Conner

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