Epitaph For a Fishmonger

Upon this marble, smeared with slime,
Lay dead fish he would once debone.
Now, long since filleted by Time,
Beneath it their purveyor’s prone.


A Crab’s Reply

‘CRAB. Start with a live crab and kill it
either by driving a skewer into the brain
or dropping it into boiling water –
whichever method seems the least unkind!’                        
                          - Guide to Deep Freezing

The time has come to make my feelings plain.            
Go boil your head, cook, or, if  disinclined,        
Let skewers pierce what passes for your brain –             
Whichever method seems the least unkind!


Prepositional

Years past, a poet sank, or shone,
In print in journals, some long gone.
Today, web-published, goose and swan
Are also at and up and on.


Reflection At The Foot Of A Column

How very much sweeter
Without pigeon excreta.


Jerome Betts

If you have any comments on these poems, Jerome Betts  would be pleased to hear from you.