Prayers for Angry Young Men (Excerpt)
Prayers for the boys on bmx’s swarming the street with swithblade
stingers,
prayers for the long drips of lifeblood that spray the street like graffiti,
prayers for the stench of curling weed smoke burning away the guilt,
prayers for the young men caught on the wrong road in the wrong
post code (The Butterfly Hotel, 13)
Blue Morpho Butterfly (Excerpt)
Beneath his Panama hat, his mind held a Blue Morpho,
its aqua wings moving in slow motion in one spot.
He saw the grey buildings and as they put the walkway out,
the butterfly began to fly round the bowl of his skull. (The Butterfly Hotel, 34)
Kid/nap (Excerpt)
At the wedding I wasn’t sure that Uncle Clyde
even knew the bride or groom, but as the music played
he danced like he was the bride’s proud father,
making up new dances on the spot,
in his creased clothes and uncombed hair (The Butterfly Hotel, 56)
