Tuesday, 2 September 2025

Five Poems by Lynn White

 






At The End of the Universe


It was a splendid coffee shop,

cakes made with flair and imagination

a perfect cup of coffee

and an even more outstanding 

pan galactic gargle buster cocktail,

easily the best drink in the universe.


I discovered it when I was hitchhiking,

travelling through the galaxy with Arthur.

He was similarly impressed,

so much so that he asked for the name

of their suppliers

so that we could fill our backpacks

for the next stage of our journey


They told us that everything came from

the Heaven And Earth Grocery Store 

and gave us precise directions of how to find it.

But as usual, our sense of direction failed us

and we lingered 

for some time

before the next ship stopped for us.

And it was no help,

it was as lost as we were.


And that’s how we realised a Guide was needed,

a specialist hitchhiker’s Guide

to the galaxy.




Infinite Improbability


It was the Infinite Probability Drive

that enabled the discovery.

And once discovered 

it could not be

undiscovered.

Nothing can be.


Now,

in the future,

another lucky accident

is enabling another discovery,

a means of calculating the probability

of everything.

It is something,

if not everything,

that we need to know.


Soon we shall probably,

or improbably,

know why.



First published in Brave and Reckless Feb 8 2024




The Haunted Saucepan


“You’ll be in the soup 

if you go out in this”

she said,

“it’s a real pea-souper.”

I carried on stirring,

I wasn’t thinking of going out anyway.


I have to keep stirring

or I’ll be in the soup,

that’s what my saucepan says.

And I listen to her

as I peer through the fog

inside.

I know 

what a sticky mess she can make

if I don’t obey her.


So I keep on stirring,

hoping that soon 

she’ll let me eat.


I keep on stirring,

hoping that sometime

she’ll let me eat.


First published in Brave and Reckless, Monster She Wrote, October 2021




The Circle Game


I was running round in circles,

or that’s how it felt,

going nowhere

from no beginning

to no end

just round and round

in colour splattered circles

a palette I picked up from living 

on the edge of this mad, mad world.

And I have to live on the edge.

In the middle there are huge holes

hovering, waiting, ready to suck me in.

I must take care not to deviate,

not to fall through the circle

into the great white hole 

where the running will stop

and everything will end in madness.


First published in Brave and Reckless, Mad World, October 2020




Sleep



I’m hoping for the sweet dreams tonight,

ready to welcome them to my bed

like the tree welcomes its leaves.

But I cannot choose them,

cannot control them, 

cannot prevent them

turning to nightmares

that wake me

screaming and sweating

night after night.

And I cannot choose

the time when the long sleep

takes me to my final bed

holding the flowers tight 

in my boney hand.



First published in Alien Buddha Zine, December 2023








Lynn White lives in north Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice and events, places and people she has known or imagined. She is especially interested in exploring the boundaries of dream, fantasy and reality. She has been nominated for Pushcarts, Best of the Net and a Rhysling Award. Her poetry has appeared in many publications including: Consequence Journal, Firewords, Capsule Stories, Gyroscope Review, Blue Pepper, Arachne Press and So It Goes. 

https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/



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