Michael Shepherd Poems

The Greeks said, those great Muses
who civilise us, grace our dance of life,
were once, before they were nine,
just three; and before that,
...

and we’ll never quite forgive our parents
for being our parents

and we’ll never never forgive that one
...

The teenager around the house,
confronted with the suggestion that
God smiles on him, would be
rabbit-stunned beyond reaction;
...

You asked me
to destroy
all your love-letters
as if that
...

This, then, the question
for those whom it may concern –

to find a celebration in oneself
...

‘He has insulted Islam! ’ they cry out,
‘Off with his head! ’

Thereby, some might say,
...

when it’s the s tucked away in ‘asleep’
in its s for secret hideaway
it feels s for safe and s for secure
though you can see it keeps
...

When those you most love
die
that's the time to speak in praise of love
(said Saint Valentine) .
...

So this was it. I'd passed through years ago
as a hitch-hiker, spinning out our 25 pounds
max allowance, over three hot weeks of France
until I was sick of tough-skinned monster tomatoes
...