Selected Poems:

Anna Livia Oysterface Steps Out

I scrub my back
and forth and back
with perfumed mud and oils.

I loosen my hair
and down it falls
in softly winding coils.

I redden my lips,
darken my eyes,
and, seated upon a pillow,
I weave a garland of meadow grass
with fallen leaves
of willow.

I fashion a necklace
of pebbles and cobbles,
with stones like the eyes of a cat.
I put on my gown,
odd clodhopper shoes,
and a pointy sugarloaf hat.

From my son, the postman,
I borrow a sack
and fill it with gifts for all.
Then shifting it back and forth
on my back,
I step out queenly and tall.

Here Comes Pretty Mummy

Here comes pretty Mummy
Giddy gaddy Mummy
Flopping on her elbows
Plopping on her tummy
Ducking under bridges
Dodging bits of bog
Swatting at the midges
Singing through the fog
Ah, bright sun marrying over the sea,
Bring back my mummy to me, back to me.


Here I come
Your darling mum
Zooming round the bay
Gig goggle of giggles
Hooray hooray
Gig goggle of giggles
Joy day!

For Humpy My Dumpy

For Humpy my dumpy,
who sits on high walls,
I carry a gluepot
for after his falls.
Unlike the king’s horses
and all the king’s men,
I can put Humpy
together again.
For Humpy my dumpy,
egg of my life,
gluepots of love

from Anna,
your wife.

Is There One Who Understands Me?

Is there one who understands me?
I’m as lonely as the moon.
Let what happens happen.
Let it happen soon.

In a thousand years of days,
I did the best I could.
And in the whole big widey world,
no one understood.