Poem: There are five poets in my garden

June 11, 2026

There are five poets in my garden

— and they think that they are bulbs.
But the first one smells carcinogenic,
and he is clothed in ancient brown,
as if he stole the mud-flecked jumper
from the very body of a bog-man.
The second is talking about
the fervid dangers of Pokémon,
and how in her day, they looked
for birds, and birds were quite enough.
She has a collection of empty eggs,
pilfered in her day, which lie
in an ancient purloined nest —
a weird eunuch’s severed balls,
placed in a stolen cup of misery.
Number three is being thoughtful.
He never utters a sentence without
a French philosopher’s name —
like a pigeon (of stolen eggs) he says
Bourdieu, Bourdieu, and oui, he bores me.
Number four is addicted to rhyme.
He knows he is somewhat out of time,
but like a tune you know too well,
he is married to the villanelle.
And the fifth? She plants sarcasm
in a weedy succulent garden,
where such thin green tongues
poke like wee prickly dragons.
She’s fully awesome, and awfully sweet.

PS Cottier

I have posted this one before, but I had a sudden urge for poet gardening, before the World Cup takes over.

One Response to “Poem: There are five poets in my garden”

  1. nounouhead's avatar nounouhead said

    Always great poems. Love the allegory of the garden. Cheers

    Ms Maria Koukouvas (Vouis) BA Psych / Eng; BEd Secondary; Grad Dip Creative Writing; Cert IV Music MOBILE: 0407 354 784 Publications:* Mimesis, Friendly Street Anthology 48, eds Maria Koukouvas & Rob Ferris, Two Tongue World – the Diaspora Dialogues, ICOE Press; Woman is the Cow of the World – *Newcastle Poetry Prize, *Arachne’s Thread – The Victorian Writer; Chicken Bones* – Cordite Poetry Review, All The Seasons in Your Face – Canberra Times

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