Revving The Engine
They can’t really
go that far
but the son
wants to learn
to ride his bike
so the father
starts the engine
demonstrates
how to rev
the engine
and let’s his seedling
ride around the block
for the best part
of an hour
till someone
from up above
shouts down
‘OI FUCKSAKE!
THAT’S ENOUGH!’
and I smile
to myself
reminded
to call
my own father
a man
with no interest at all
in bikes
or revving engines
but who I’m sure
would enjoy
yelling from his balcony
if he had one
Friends of Saint Alex
You’re going to write about
all our new neighbours
aren’t you,
she says
but I keep thinking
about the old ones
about the Cuban revolutionary loving
house husband
looking after his
dementia ridden
mother-in-law
forever tapping him on the head
about the accountant downstairs
too fat to walk
his moped
to the gate
daily clouds of engine exhaust
hanging in the stairwell
but mostly about
the balcony diva
tall, tattooed and time
for anyone with a cigarette
and a story
who fell from the second floor
and into a coma
just before we left
The Boy Next Door
I used to hear him
having sex
she used to scream
right through
the wall
one day
he invited me in
said
he had something
to show me
it was a matchbox
full of ecstasy
this one is speckled
and this one
has the logo of a car
and this one is best left
till you’re ready
I didn’t mind
any of it
he was always just trying
to be a good brother
Danny D. Ford has had poems, illustrations, and photography published in various print and online titles including Ancient Heart Magazine, Blacklisted Magazine, BS Poetry Magazine, Lazybox, Dark Lane Quarterly Collaborative, Bare Hands, Coronverses, and Winamop. ‘The Unfolding Head’ is co-founder & compère of the open mic Dust Your Broom and co-founder of print collective Never kill a Rainbow in Bergamo, Italy, where he lives and works as an English teacher.
