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Peter A

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the poet

Published widely in such places as Laldy, Spindrift, Poems for Grenfell Tower, A Kist of Thistles, A Kind of Stupidity and Bridges or Walls?, Peter A won first prize at the 2016 Paisley Spree Fringe Poetry Competition. During 2020, his work was anthologised in Words from Battlefield, Poets Against Trump, Surfing, The Angry Manifesto and Black Lives Matter – Poems for a New World. Peter's debut chapbook, Art of Insomnia, was published by Hedgehog Poetry Press in 2021.

the poems

Found in France

00:00 / 02:30
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            Though you would have to concede

            its picture perfect rural beauty

            here for the record are the things

            you wouldn’t like about the place.


            The middle of the countryside

            such a distance from anywhere.

            The crowded transport

            transferring from the airport.

            The open windows to keep the place cool

            inviting houseflies.

            The doorway dogs, the ever-darting

            omnipresent lizards.

            The lack of television.

            The steps, useful for others,

            which would be impossible for you.

            Around those steps the lavender

            which at home would aid your sleeping

            but here for you a nightmare,

            attracting wasps and bees.

            The spider’s improbably small body,

            impossibly spindly long legs,

            waiting in the shower room, patiently.

            Also the tiny white spider

            – I bet you never saw an entirely white spider!

            The mosquitoes, the hornets.

            The blood-sucking horseflies

            almost certainly lining up to feast upon

            you in particular.

            The bats awaiting

            the chance to be entangled in

            your lush long hair.

            The swimming pool that would be out of bounds for you.

            The conversation in which you would not wish to speak.

            The revelation before bedtime

            concerning the cleaner’s cat,

            its trophy mice and

            the minor flea infestation

            – successfully eradicated we think

            but let us know if you get bitten.




            As for me,

            the only aspect of the French place

            I do not appreciate

            is you

            not being here.

After

00:00 / 00:54
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            After words

            their last have

            spoken and

            from here gone


            Afterwards

            it is said


                                                                       cockroaches


            will make the


            earth their own


            Do you see

            already

            some                                                    may be


            working to

            inherit

            behind the

            scenes                                                  planning


            preparing

            strategies

            awaiting

                                                                       the endgame


            from which all

            cockroach-types

            are due to

            benefit


            after the black

            rainfall/after

            the slaughter of

            words and laughter


            After

Late night teardrop

00:00 / 00:40
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            I should certainly stop

            viewing old home movies,

            not because of their patchiness

            or participants’ awkwardness –

            that’s all part of their charm.

            Not because of their faded definition –

            I always liked the Impressionists.

            Not because they are silent cinema,

            recorded with the cheapest camera,

            but because they leave my heart haunted.

Publishing credits

Found in France: Art of Insomnia (The Hedgehog Poetry Press)

After: Sci-Fi (Dreich Themes)

Late night teardrop: The Wee Book of Wee Poems

  (Dreich Wee Books)

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S h a r e

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