Here in a Glasgow tenement—not asleep, not awake either—
hear
sheet creases tattoo aphorisms on my sweet birthday suit
hear
snowfall on the rooftop this tenement doesn’t have—a crown coeval with the floor of a neighbour who hasn’t danced in days
hear
a black beetle with butterscotch eyes assert its dominance over the weakling woodlouse
hear
the silvering screech of my eyebrow hair rake over umpteen deserted follicles—a.k.a. graves
hear
someone asks are you busy? when I’m very busy, and me intending to answer: busy as migrating geese; as trap dodging bears; as desperate bellies, but instead muttering a bit busy but not too busy
hear
my spirit animal settle on a bullfrog: an invader species known to barely slumber—unwittingly violent, green upper lipped
hear
the shriek of scalpel as my enemy cuts, rubbery, the guts from my bullfrog; not to eat, simply to chew and spit back out
hear
the sun flare, knowing if it wasn’t already on fire we’d burn it
hear
a threshold gatekeeper—warden of the unkempt feelings between dreams & dying—clock-off with a raspy laugh
hear
your voice remind me not to worry because we can nap—napping helped make us, is best done nudey, my hot balls against your back
hear
my spangled heart: thistle, warble, then mend with the memory, like weary knees pressed into familiar dirt, below an altar, or a tree
by Michael Pederson
Something you should know:
Michael Pederson is a prize-winning Scottish poet, writer, & animateur. He has published two highly acclaimed collections of poetry (Polygon Books) with a prose debut, Boy Friends, forthcoming with Faber. Pedersen was awarded the John Mather Trust Rising Star of Literature 2014, and a 2015 Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. He’s had work anthologised by the likes of Pan MacMillan and Canongate Books, and was a finalist for the 2018 ‘Writer of the Year’ at The Scottish Culture Awards. Pedersen’s most recent collection Oyster, now in its sixth printing, was illustrated by and performed as a live show with the late Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit. "Michael’s poems are so physical you can almost touch the images in them. Fabulously sensual and alive. I adore poetry like this". - Stephen Fry - More about Michael, here
Joy to Enjoy today:
12.01am: Ancient Champion - Under Pressure »»
1am: Ade Crossen - Thoughtful Choice »»
2am: Jackie Stein - The Battle of Social Media »»
3am: Dave Pitt - Spiderman Brendan »»
4am: Jimmy Andrex - Festival of Brexit »»
5am: Brendan Hawthorne - We Are Here »»
6am: Ahmed Magare - We Cannot Walk Alone »»
7am: Emma Purshouse - Mermaid on the Number 3 »»
8am: Rue Collinge - That Year »»
9am: Deborah Alma - Mother of Pearl »»
10am: Steve Pottinger - Fatima »»
11am: Jay Lewis - Betrayal 1991 »»
12pm: Hollie McNish - Honestly »»
1pm: Emma Purshouse - Five Minutes on a Midland Train »»
2pm: Rebecca Stanhope - Take Your Hands Off Me »»
3pm: Michael Pederson - Here in a Glasgow Tenement - Not Asleep, Not Awake Either »»
4pm: Glyn Phillips - Doorways »»
5pm: PixieVic - Curious Choices »»
6pm Christian Present - Poeme »»
7pm John Robinson - My Reply To You »»
8pm David Benjamin Blower - 47 »»
9pm Emma Purshouse - Feeling Low? »»
10pm Steve Pottinger - Jam today: Mrs Veronica Blake’s manifesto for a brighter future »»
11pm Jay Lewis - The Starling 1976 »»
