A Couple Kissing in Peterborough City Centre

At the turnpike of two jawbones
the question of a heavy levy left unsquared.
A slapdash swap of rag and bone
from which a coarse corsair is undeterred.

Inamorato. Inamorata. Inamorati.
Wholemeal oaths and corroded bayonets.
A fundraiser for the Iluminati and a hen party
respectively. A jumble of snares and nets.

Grunt and sweat under weary lipstick.
To tongue, perchance, to enthymeme.
The sot’s blind spot. The clinched-body politic
flouts the old bill with a bipartisan scream.

The musket fire of chattering teeth.
A draught as fierce as gospel floods.
A symphony of saliva. A last-bus leitmotif.
The forfeiture of worldly goods.