HORSEPOWER:

Up on the roof,
Me & a dirty car,
Exchange glances with a face in the car next door,
Sneaking a crafty one,
Escaped,
Unseen,
Off grid,
I wont tell if you wont,

Church bells blown on the wind,
Under a skeletal moon,
A Blue sky listens to shopping trolley grooves,
Pulled by a fella in a little yellow cycle cap,
Eddy Merckx in Black & White,
Tour de France,
Saturday Grandstand,
Granddad Charlie,

Sunday morning,
Radio wave cocoon,
Time between time,
Between the wars,
Belongs to no one,
Everyone,
Don’t try so hard,
It’s already fantastic

(K)

THE HOLE IN THE WALL GANG:

Did you park it in the same place?
No I parked it on the roof like a little kid,
Always on the roof,
Close to the sky,
With a Wah Wah crack,
No going back,
A quick glance over the edge,

I’m Mary Poppins,
Don’t laugh,
Closer to God in my dirty car,
A solitary lament,
A chill wind through an open door,
Our daily bread,
Amen,
Amen,
New jeans,
Milk & honey

(K)

MATERIAL WEALTH:

There was a bowl of pasta waiting,
A voice on the end of the phone I’d been trying to reach all day,
I disappeared to the bathroom,
Locked the door,
Turned the first radio on,
Some woman talked about something,
The tone of her voice was rich,
Enticing underscore,
Turned on the second radio,
Miles Runs The Voodoo Down,
Perfect,
The combination made me happy,
Standing silent,
Still,
Invisible to the world,
Chuckling,
‘If only you could hear this’,
I thought,
‘Better than anything I’m trying to write’,
These are the materials I should be painting with

(K)

REMAIN WITHIN THE LINES:

Coms is down,
I’m calling you from somewhere else,
A place connected to the world,

Lines have been broken for days at home,
Maybe weeks,
We’re used to living with defective connections,

The lady on the phone said everything was ok,
But,
Everything remained the same,

The man didn’t come when he said he would,
That was yesterday,
Now it’s today,

The man came today & said,
Everything’s not ok,
I’m glad we’re both on the same page,

He said,
The fault is 400 metres away,
And left to find it,

Now nothing works,
So I’m here,
Talking to you from somewhere else

(K)

SCULPTURAL MOMENTS:

You should know,
I’ve been sat here for an hour,
Writing,
And it turned out crap,

You were in my head of course,
Reading it out loud,
It sounded soooo bad,
Why didn’t you stop me sooner?

Anyway I scrapped it,
Schoolboy cleverness,
Underneath a thing with sticks,
Satisfied?
What’s the point?
The thing with the sticks was better

(K)

3 – 7:

Fantastically embarrassing,
Years of practise,
Weeds in the back garden,

We have a master plan,
A dry run,
A smart car,
A picture book,

Look at the pretty pictures,
Whilst holding conversations,
Showing only the tops of our heads,
With eyes turned down to pages,
We’ve spent too long living here,

Are you going to do anything?
Or just stick around?
Are you downloading everything HD?
What’s the speed of your connection?
Don’t go there!
Reaction times differ,

What do you feel like?
Say something pizza,
Shall I call?
Or do you want to do it?
Take away?
Or eat in?
Whatever makes you happy

(Listening to: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble — Now)

(K)

DAZZLE SHIPS:

Was that you I saw?
Walking with Venus at sunrise,

You looked good together,
She was radiant,

You make her happy,
She needs that,
Good on ya,
It was a tough year last year,

I don’t know how she made it,
Never lost,
Always alone,

Anyone who makes her shine like that is welcome,
Any time,
You got my number?
Here,

Venus is an old friend,
Welcomed us into the area,
When we knew no one,
You don’t forget a thing like that,

The man she lost was a good one,
A light in the dark,
Great taste in music,

How are the kids?
They could do with some good news,

Tell me that was you,
Walking with Venus

(K)

HANDLE HOLE:

Did the rain sound great to you this morning?
I mean,
It was dark,
Yeah,
But the sound made me feel good,
Got me up,
Boots on,
Out,
Y’know,
Waterproofs & everything,

Listen to the size of it!
You could close your eyes & still see everything,
Read the world like Braille,

(listening to Chuck Wood – Seven Days Is Too Long)

(K)

THINGS LEFT LYING AROUND:

When I’m with you I’m a bat Jimmy,
That would be sick Jimmy,
Chill out Jimmy!
Jimmy come early,
This is Phase two Jimmy,
If you wake up all night you get headaches Jimmy,
People call fresh between 6 & 8 Jimmy,
Callers Jimmy,
They’re on you early,
Hello hello Jimmy
Got to ring you back,
Hello,
Hello,
Got to ring you back Jimmy,
I have to ring you on your mobile Jimmy,
If it goes dead Jimmy I have to ring you Jimmy,
I had my phone four weeks ago Jimmy,
Still haven’t got a case Jimmy,
Jimmy I didn’t have time to look & I’m still looking Jimmy,
Jimmy they didn’t have one when I bought it,
And I didn’t have time to look,
But I’m still looking,
And I can’t give up hope Jimmy,
And I can’t give in looking Jimmy,
You know what I mean Jimmy?
I’ll phone you nine o’clock in the morning Jimmy,
Jimmy see how you’re doing,
I’ll let you go now Jimmy,
Ok then Jimmy?
I’ll let you go,
Ho ho ho Jimmy,
Jimmy?
Jimmy?
You still there?

(K)

MEDICINE:

It’s raining,
And still dark,
Listening from bed is my favourite,
No,
I tell a lie,
It’s sitting the car,
Engine off,
The sound of it hitting the roof & the wind

(K)