Phyllis North, Joyce Locke and The Cat And Mouse Act

by Paul Tristram / September 12th, 2021

At 7st 11lbs and [surreptitiously] Sinking
… I body-parcel food
whilst retaining DEFIANCE
… War is War, my Body is a Weapon!
I smell paraffin whist reminiscing
… and my Court Dock insolence
keeps me Cell-warm through the night.
I can taste the rounds of hammer-heads
under my clicking tongue…
there is far more ‘Brawler’ in this frail
female frame… than Society is ready for.
Holloway ‘Label’ and ‘Pigeonhole’
before bringing forth their Barbaric
Tubes of Torture… I vomit stomach-bile
and blood with [forced] milk and eggs
through my screaming, wretched fingers.
My mind is a ‘Clock’ tick-ticking away
… the hours down to visible Weakness…
I crawl ’32 Days’… to [an Early] Release.

Paul Tristram is a widely published Welsh writer who deals in the Lowlife, Outsider, and Outlaw genres.  He wrote his first poem as a teenager following his release from the (Infamous) Borstal ‘HMP Portland’, and he has been creating Literary Terrorism ever since.  His novel ‘Crazy Like Emotion’ is available to purchase right here . Also his collection of shorter fiction Kicking Back Drunk ‘Round The Candletree Graves' is available to purchase at https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0DFMTSR4F Both books are published by Close To The Bone Publishing. Read other articles by Paul, or visit Paul's website.

This article was posted on Sunday, September 12th, 2021 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.