“Bonfire of Broken Hearts by Stewart Stafford A shivering man craving warmth, Mustn't let the fire consume him, Despite temptation heat flares, In arousal-seared microseconds. Lured in with passion's promise, A stray spark or lick of flame is all Love ignites into walking fireball— Devotion's immolation sacrifice. On a cracked cardiac bonfire, Toughened muscles take time to burn, An atrophied, coarse chest slump, Once burned it is charcoal brittle. In the hall of mirrors' reflection, ICU, but do you see any of me? No salve - a scorched psyche set free. © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” LovePoetryHeartbreakPsychologicalSurrealismLove And LossContemporary PoetryDark PoetryAnti ValentineStewart Stafford Author:Stewart Stafford
“Where Truth Lies by Stewart Stafford My television lost picture, Grew lips, told the truth, Then it finished speaking, My voice froze after that. My elderly self turned, In a white, shining chair, Cutting my lips from me, To let the truth ooze out. The moon in three cups, Providence's hinterland, The old bait-and-switch, Shows truth has no price. © Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.” TruthHonestHonestyTelevisionLipsSurrealTruthfulnessSurrealismTruth PoemTruth Poetry Author:Stewart Stafford
“Fantasmagoria by Stewart Stafford Dreams are the exploration, Of unlimited imagination, In minds so freely open, The chooser becomes chosen, To dream labour's leisure, Overflowing with hidden treasure, And seeing what we feel, The imagined becomes real. © Stewart Stafford, 2020. All rights reserved.” ImaginationDreamsPoemDreamerDreamingSurrealSurrealismSource Of InspirationReality Vs Fantasy Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Tentacled Maws by Stewart Stafford Unhook the mind, Put honesty in dispute, From chosen blood, Comes officious brute. Tentacled things taking, Malicious, maladroit maws, In a hubris blizzard blind, Behind lupine power doors. Irradiated golden pockets, Ragged wretches starving, Dynasties sprouting weeds, Names on plaques for carving. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” PoetryPovertyGreedExistentialismDystopianSurrealismSocial CommentaryAllegoryPolitical SatireCosmic Horror Author:Stewart Stafford
“Chaos Cocktail by Stewart Stafford Herky-jerky's hanky-panky, Wakey-wakey, eggs n' bakey! Cosmic Mercury's retrograde trick, Nilsson's Brandy Alexander kick. John heard Bermuda's jingle-jangle, Storm surge in an Exorcist Triangle! Sea shanties upending Behan's hive, All stout hornets jigged and jived. Yoko's "Oh, no!" on firmer ground, Her ageing mariner didn't drown, Lonely Ringo plays bingo bongo, Paul, mugged down near the Congo. © 2024, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” MusicSurrealismWhimsicalStream Of ConsciousnessBeatlesJohn LennonFunny PoemBermuda TrianglePop Culture ReferencesSea Poems Author:Stewart Stafford
“In Delirio Familiari by Stewart Stafford He devoured radioactive pizza, eyes bulging to breaking point. Every riddle imploded in a flash, daymare fission without a joint. He, the man of conjured letters; she, his spark that moderates. Janus creature, clockface duo, oddballs, but fitting mates. With dollops of ambrosial agony, in frenzied closeness, but witty, The Brain Surgeon’s Cookbook, A bromide concoction served as ditty. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.” CreativityCreativeRelationshipNuclearAbstractCreative ProcessMuseSurrealSurrealismFunny Poem Author:Stewart Stafford
“Reflectorama by Stewart Stafford City buildings screaming down, Memories staggering anywhere, My childhood self calls out, But I must not go back there. Conjoined twins amputated, The pathway home lies cracked, Tsunamis smashed our thin bridge, Egregious horse, blindly backed. Forced into immovable objections, Monoliths in mutual self-defeat, Torched your bed, now burn in it, As I hotfoot it down the street. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” PoetryGriefIdentityMental HealthTraumaModernismEscapismSurrealismFragmentationUrban Poetry Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Roller Trip by Stewart Stafford A psychedelic Rolls-Royce ride, Lennons and pals giggle inside, Chauffeur whistles as secrets slip, Hourglass liquid lets sentience rip. Supplied narcotics set minds ablaze, Looping the loop in a magenta haze: "Ladies & Germs, to a scene obscene! Set sail to ecstasy we've never seen!" Wheels whirled wild in a swirling blur, Yokels mouth breathe where cows concur, Red light flare, fans storm captive glass, Mary Jane and Lucy on laughing gas. Below the speed limit, warp speed fast, Canary oil slides on a ghost ship's mast, Paisley spermatozoa in jigging fright, Tumbling back to earth as day flipped night. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” HumorHumourDrugs1960sPsychedelicSurrealismWordplayTripJohn LennonThe Beatles Author:Stewart Stafford
“Space Boot Hill: The Urbane Frontier by Stewart Stafford Red hot, white hot, then what? Nostril fleas dancing at dawn, Creating Frankenstein rivals, Great Whites slumming as prawn. Melon farmers of the world unite! We like them big, ripe and juicy, See all the Vegans next Tuesday: Barbara, Doris, Amy and Lucy. And so we dodge the cosmic bullets, Of an Atraxis gunslinger, non-ritual dead, Playing possum, we slip away, Chiming life's aria, eternally spread. © 2024, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” HumorSpaceHumourScience FictionWesternExistentialismSatireSurrealismSocial CommentaryAbsurdism Author:Stewart Stafford
“Anaesthetic Aesthetic by Stewart Stafford Crumbs infesting my bedsheets, Sleeping sand in all the cracks, As a hijack tick on a giant horse, Awakened by deadening thudding. Body falling down the elevator shaft, Can you stop that instantly, friend? I cannot focus on all my work here, You should have water to cannonball. And another stiff just fell down that, Cool, go ahead if you have to leap, You won't see me cleaning that mess, Shattered carcasses, basement floor. © Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.” HumorHumourSurrealSurrealismBodiesHumorous SituationsMonty PythonJohn CleeseSurreal HumorSurreal Humour Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Penultimate Hotel by Stewart Stafford Enter sluggishly into the lobby, A banquet is in progress in the restaurant, They’re regurgitating reality from within, And then eating their young. An apocalyptic porter has radioactive cubes in the lift, Housekeeping will have ten thousand years of light, But the sheets in the rooms, Will all turn to cream cheese. The cooks in the kitchen are breaking bones and rules, Creating a cake that stretches to infinity, Babel babble with protesting eggs, All baked in a hellfire oven. The concierge gives out tips, And tells guests they are awful and to leave, While simultaneously tattooing diabolical potion recipes, Inside a willing bellhop’s eyelids. © 2021, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” HotelGothicDark HumorSurrealismWhimsicalDark HumourBritish HumourBlack ComedyBritish HumorFawlty Towers Author:Stewart Stafford
“Bizzaro Time by Stewart Stafford I took dawn selfies on a bridge, Geneva worms conferred in slime, A woman's dog slithered serpentine, It snapped and hissed in bizarro time. A businessman's briefcase in flight, Went public in a philanthropist sky, Umbrellas blossomed into trees, Peacenik pigeon medal caught the eye. Coffee shops served liquid light, Brewed up pagan code of yore, Pedestrians' morphed molten form, Glass-blown in tangerine pour. We shared loop shrugs, muted pleas, Sober intoxication's escapist twist, A uniquely-marketed Tuesday morn, Dreamt up to commodify every tryst. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” TechnologyAuthenticitySatireDystopianSurrealismSocial CommentaryAbsurdismCommodificationSocial Commentary HumorSocial Commentary Satire Author:Stewart Stafford
“Hallucination Country by Stewart Stafford A furious tribe of leaves, Chased a logging truck, As forked flames waved, From a burning backyard tree. A half-eaten unicorn in a ditch, A warning from hunters nearby, Slaughtering fairytale creatures, Cryptids were their mint targets. An abandoned Volkswagen car lay, Half-overturned, underbelly exposed, The injured driver, now hitchhiking, With a spree killer or tow-truck driver. © Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.” HuntingSurrealSurrealismUnicornCar AccidentDeforestationHitchhikingSurreal PoetrySurreal HumorSurreal Humour Author:Stewart Stafford
“Moments of extreme joy or sorrow always feel surreal and incredible, which tells us that life is mostly a voyage of mundanity between distant, analogous shores of disbelief.” LifeLife LessonsDisbeliefSurrealismJoy And PainJoy And SorrowMundane RealityMundanityDistant ShoresVoyage Of Life Author:Stewart Stafford
“Knowhere by Stewart Stafford Poleaxed by vampiric tapping— rattling timeline of a loop lapping— Hypochondriac paranoid toothache, tasting everything I see and break. Showed my tongue to an undertaker; licked his face — proved I’m no faker. A measured, grim diagnosis followed, matter from a cardiac pump hollowed. Draped loosely in a tea towel shroud, resurrected—naked, loud, and proud— Rocket to the pub for a post-wake baptism, a ploughman’s lunch with relish schism. © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” PoetryExistentialismSatireDark HumorSurrealismContemporary PoetryAbsurdismGothic PoetryHorror PoetryBritish Humor Author:Stewart Stafford
“Interstellar Corduroy Roy by Stewart Stafford Taunted since he was a boy, Thorn-crowned “Corduroy Roy”, Hurled across sanity’s border, A reluctant thundercloud hoarder. His spacesuit? Pants! - Shade? Maroon! Playing soccer-tennis on the moon, Astronaut dust, his alma mater, Hitched to Earth in a pocket crater. Leapfrogged back to terra firma, Just in time for his dog’s dewormer, Gravity’s cords in the machine, unclean, Freed himself from the lunar silt routine. © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” MoonExistentialismBullyingSurrealismWhimsicalAbsurdismDark PoetryStewart StaffordBathosPsychological Poetry Author:Stewart Stafford
“Quietus Interruptus by Stewart Stafford I've just seen a live mugshot, A home intruder demands I know, Crack out knuckle-dusters or mace, Miscreant justice cold and slow. Should I invite him in to breakfast? Serve rich Eggs à la Pepper Spray! Thump him with my coffee mug, To end this castle siege for the day. An amateur matador from this bull fled, I see frosted breath in a neighbour’s garden, Shirked his curtain call in a magenta dawn, Not even a disingenuous “I beg your pardon!” © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” CrimeDark HumorSelf DefenseSurrealismTrue StoryPsychological ThrillerRobberyBurglaryHome InvasionNoir Poetry Author:Stewart Stafford
“Same Old, Game Old by Stewart Stafford On the first day of the new year, Chronos's roulette wheel rolls, Seeing the thermometer do 60, Scraping shadows off the fridge. Teddy bear plays hide-and-seek, With a giant, grey beast that barks, And an elephant with a rainbow gut, But some things should go AWOL Dinner plate talismans bring cheer, Windfall greens and Jupiter peas, Coins tossed in an oracle's grotto, Marching into the fog of life ahead. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.” TimeFutureLuckDinnerNew YearSurrealSurrealismHide And SeekNew Year S DayNew Year Poetry Author:Stewart Stafford
“Cycle of the Midnight Ape by Stewart Stafford Janus creature of paradox, Liquid hostage of conscience, Swinging midnight's ape, On cartwheel chandeliers. This being's bender reveal — Of the existential, maddening itch, To sling aside life’s burdens, And slake its raging thirst. An anthropological anomaly, Naked in its contradictions, A déjà vu loop grinds on, This peerless hellraiser royal. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” IsolationParadoxExcessHuman ConditionSurrealismSocial CommentaryCoping MechanismPhilosophical PoetryComedy And TragedyParty Animals Author:Stewart Stafford
“Antiseptic Awakening by Stewart Stafford See the rainbow spattered With dark blood moon juice. This creeping haemorrhage, A lacerated spectrum merged. Bruised trickles not halting, Violations in crimson stealth. Impotent, alleged lifeforms, Ashen foot-dragging below. Casually surrendered hues, The arterial strain's zenith. No colour in cheek nor sky, Bleached by antiseptic snow. © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” ExistentialismSurrealismColorsDark AcademiaContemporary PoetryContemporary LiteraturePhilosophical PoetryGothic PoetryUrban DecayStewart Stafford Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Larktown Savannah by Stewart Stafford Pierce the smog-shrouded end of town, A wheezing, mirthless, blushing clown, On the river, logs and sticks past me flew, Ingredients of a swirling, brownish stew. In the bait shop, the condemned crawl, A carvery pub lunch next door for all, The old cinema’s lights are long-dimmed, A long grass lion’s zebra crossing skimmed. Seagulls bomb the blustery bridge; To the water, as to sunset, the midge; An Elvis impersonator’s sparse crowd tell— Rhinestone saviour in Wharf Street’s hotel. © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” Dark HumorSurrealismSlice Of LifeModern PoetryIrish LiteratureA Day In The LifeElvis ImpersonatorIndustrial DecayPenny LaneSeaside Town Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Surly Caller by Stewart Stafford Pain - stalker at my door; Resigned admission inside, Drags a chair, fills teary ducts, Drapes tingling spider's webs. Grey vista of a dreaded visit, Common or garden victim by force, Pain is the barb to candied joy; Twin-horned teasing tormentor. In rapid eye movement, we dream, It sleepwalks in my creaking room, I hear stumbling footsteps stir, Claws retract in numbing slumber. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.” PainSufferingDreamsMetaphorSurrealismStalkerPersonificationEmily DickinsonStalkersSadomasochism Author:Stewart Stafford
“A Bloodshot Mind's Eye by Stewart Stafford Hyperventilating loudly, Feverish visions crash in, Flinching ever so strongly, A farrago of the brain's bin. Home is sadly unsweetened, Not like old Lynyrd Skynyrd's, Fell into mashed-up bananas, Looking like a lizard's innards. On a plane crashing down fast, Door closed on a switch to cars, A parachute instantly appeared, And I woke from sleep a superstar. © Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.” DreamSleepDreamsDreamingSurrealSleepingSurrealismSurreal PoetryFever DreamDream Poetry Author:Stewart Stafford
“Unholy by Stewart Stafford Horrors walk from out a dream, Apparitions dare reality’s seam, Gnarly fingers excavate blame, Sanity stolen in a hellish flame. No way to think or even breathe, Or kind worldly goods bequeath, For Time’s skeletal fingers snap, Catching souls in a fiendish trap. Visions boxed, then assail again, A phantom grin is no one’s friend, Gasp out awakening perspiration, Sun falls in creeping desperation. © Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.” DreamDreamsKarmaNightmareSurrealGothicSurrealismNightmaresApparitionsHorror Poetry Author:Stewart Stafford