Bradford Middleton – Cajun Mutt Press

CRACK MADNESS

The madness came to infect
My store today, streaming in
One by one trying to lift
Whatever they could for their God;
The Dealer. Bottles of wine and
Steak aplenty they attempted to nick
But every last one we stopped
Told ‘never come back’. One did
Put up a fight, I had him by his hoodie
One of my colleagues went through his bag
As another held his arms behind
His back. Alas he broke free and one
Of us, fortunately not me, got covered in
What he was so desperate to steal,
Damn sticky horrid yogurt.

They would enter and i’d let everyone know
With the simple words ‘crackhead alert’
We’d move into place, awaiting their abuse,
Their leas of innocence but this lot lost all
Of that years ago.

All i have to ask is why?
Why are there so many addicts stalking
These streets, looking to get fixed or
Looking to get clean?
How come so many lives are a mess?
I wish I had any answers beyond the
Obvious it’s crack madness.

Bradford Middleton lives in Brighton, UK. Recent poems have featured at Mad Swirl, Fixator Press, Stink Eye Magazine, Beatnik Cowboy and in the ‘Rebel Anthology’ from Back Room Poetry. His most recent chapbook, ‘The Whiskey Stings Good Tonight…’ was published early 2023 by the Alien Buddha Press.

BANGING ONE OUT
(over her and then this page)

I spark a little madness to
Life and watch as the words
Tumble out from my fingers
To the page and know that it
Feels as great as it did that
Very first time.

With so many isolating right
Now it must surely mean some
One out there is attempting what
I’m doing right now and sat
Bored of perving on some porn
Has clicked on an unused icon
And been presented with the
Writers dream of a blank page
Ready to be filled…

‘I got bored of banging one out to
Some hot young slut and now
Sit here writing something for the
First time since an award
Winning poem i’d written aged ten.’

Bradford Middleton lives in Brighton, England. He doesn’t like it much here and spends a lot of time in his room writing, reading, sleeping, drinking, eating and smoking. Recent poems have appeared at Horror Sleaze Trash, Yellow Mama, Mad Swirl, Beatnik Cowboy and the latest issue of the Seppuku Review. His most recent chap of poems, ‘The Whiskey Stings Good Tonight’, has just been published by the Alien Buddha Press. Follow him on Twitter @BradfordMiddle5 if you like.

Tag: Bradford Middleton

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CRACK MADNESS

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