A Handless Hoose

by Kevin Cormack

No four second rule. No salvagan the wreckage
o claggy home-made cheesekeck fae dense
1970s carpet fibres, the plate cracked clean,
a hert-line curve, his mither gaan mental.

A handless hoose

The pale puddeenless visitors arranged
aroond a six-feet snooker table, fitted
wae a custom-made widden cover, doublan
as a dining table in the living room.

“Ye kinna git angry at somebody if hid’s an accident!”

Thir kers, asleep against kerbs o the hooseen-
scheme ker-park, thir conversations an customs,
err aal like snooker baals: religiosity icons
waarn smooth under a cue baal moon.

A moothless mirror

Fer oot tae sea: a crewless fisheen bott, the hoose
o hooselessness riseen. Hids name like a buoy
brokkan free in a mountainous waste o black waves.
A power cut.

—
handless  clumsy, inept
moothless  quiet, having little conversation