GAS Featured Poet and Musician: Stephen Philip Druce

 

Stephen Philip Druce is an eclectic poet

from Shrewsbury in the UK. He is published

in the UK, the USA, Hungary, South Africa,

Ireland, Canada and India. He has also 

written for London Theater plays and BBC

Radio 4 Extra. Contact Stephen on Instagram

@StephenPhilipDruce 

THE PIANIST'S FINAL FLOURISH

Rustling herds of marching embers

ooze a masquerade of tickled trenches

in seething dominion,

torched waterfalls - nourished by zephyr

mastery, lurch languid in a godly 

zeal of paradigm vanity,

sandcastle-shaped serpents

trigger spew a searing horizon

of tangled theaters in

screeching flower cages,

scalded in sodden shadow,

the swooping goose machine

scatters its crinkled chimes

in a sensory mist of

ragged tigers and skating

vulture dust,

the canvas hermit -

nurtured in chalice,

furtive in fountain,

splashed by ruby,

as the wilted maestro sits

in a solitude ceremony 

of feathered ferocity -

the pianist's final flourish.

BIRDMAN OF THE HIGHWAY

Birdman of the highway,

flying through the night,

where days dissolve

and sunsets fold -

where ocean stars ignite,

through roads that snake

in a club striptease,

over champagne lakes

in a cocaine breeze,

as fast lanes flock

to casino hills,

the mountains rock

the backseat thrills,

birdman of the highway,

flying through the night,

where days dissolve

and sunsets fold -

where ocean stars ignite,

through cocktail shakes

in tequila seas,

as the city bakes

the street girls please,

over lit-up clocks

and fairground shrills,

the prison blocks

are popping pills,

birdman of the highway,

flying through the night,

where days dissolve

and sunsets fold -

where ocean stars ignite,

the cat pimps chew on fat cigars,

the foxes in the ghetto croon,

the carpets laid for movie stars

are chewed up in the rat monsoon,

the hurricane

it stirred so well,

the whisky rain

and the ice hotel,

birdman of the highway,

flying through the night,

where days dissolve

and sunsets fold -

where ocean stars ignite,

the night owl serenades the scars,

of moonlit lizards in desert dunes,

the rabbits shoot at speeding cars,

the bats rap to the nightclub tunes,

the riot flames

they cry farewell,

the mob that shamed

have smoked in hell,

birdman of the highway,

flying through the night,

where days dissolve

and sunsets fold -

where ocean stars ignite.