blue labour

we look     from pig to man     the iron
ice he     has melty has     war to jaw
hard-boiled     little eyes     can see    

the living     haunt the dead     see
this other world     the zone     intra
locuted     a big man     for small

government     off centre     off colour
off white     right here     oral compass
at the lip     the edge     what we say

is speaky     the verb to     be centred
be inert     simply be and     lying
down as in     calmer     as in chains

here     on the nose     to be sniffed
over     to be afraid     to be responsible
abstracted     like i do not     like

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Keith  Jebb

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