Word! (Spoon Feed)

There are many words
I don’t understand
like infantilise.
Include them to exclude,
demonstrate intellect
and cleverosity,
seemingly invented.

There are many words
I do comprehend.
Used to spoon feed
the reader with meaning,
forcing each mouthful
into their mouths (?),
choking them
with simplicity.

There are many poems
I don’t understand… (TBC)

Flat-pack apology

My wife tried to divorce me
in IKEA, the ride home
put us firmly in arrears.

What remained
was an abundance of screws
clear step-by-step diagrams.

We rotated the page
until we were both peering
from opposite immovable positions.

There were no nails or tacks,
I kept track. I resisted
– with carpet burns and tender knees –

an impulse to argue
over the right flipping side*
*except she said fucking.

I flourished the instructions,
folded them precisely around my ears.

Stephen Daniels is the editor of Amaryllis Poetry and Strange Poetry websites. His poetry has been published in numerous magazines and websites. His debut pamphlet ‘Tell Mistakes I Love Them’ was published in 2017 by V. Press. Find out more at www.stephenkirkdaniels.com