WHERE’S THE FISH?:

There’s a dirty place outside to smoke & freeze,
The girls stay inside,
Grinning,
Nodding heads in time to the music,

The kid on guitar turns off the fuzz,
Fakes a freak,
What a man,
Sweet little F word,

I am roof-dog,
Out on probation,
Down in Brixton,

Brixton gives me horns,
So sure,
Staring at the stars,

I am gone-boy,
Moaning like a dart board,
Walls of silver tassels,

Whistle-mouthed women lean back into imaginary winds,
Curving to an unloved groove,
Distributing stickers,

I’m full of Orange fizz,
One,
Two,
One Two Three Four,
Haircut like a fish,

The boys round here look too clean,
Smell too sweet,
Dreaming Brixton

(K)

ON YOUR WAY OUT NOW:

Bla Bla Bla,
Conservation,
Higher by degrees,

Yeah,
Alright mate,
Got religious robes in the corner,

No,
Yes,
You’re a tentative person,
You look better,

No,
I-I-I,
You only just got in,

I got to go in a minute,
By bus,
By walking,

Hot wire,
At the end of the road,
Ascension,

Buy a bone,
Happy as a new car,
Laughing,

No,
You’re right,
Team in a minute,

Now you’re askin’,
Move on,
Waitin’ for love,
I mean,
You’re just waitin’,

Ahhh come on,
If you paint me,
I’d love it

(K)

REAL BIRD:

Real bird hangs in the wind,
Wind blown in to shore from the sea,
North Atlantic kite with wings,
White,
Black face,
Eyes down into the water,
Water whipped up by the wind,

Wood chip fire smoke,
Feel-good,
Delivered,
Classic,
Fresh,
Local loco,
Make you walk like a man,
Omega matured,
Fish fresh from the sea

(K)

ANOTHER BLOODY HOME LEAVING:

I’m going in a minute,
OK I’ll be out soon,
I’ll wait,
OK,
How long will you be?
Not long?
I need to go,
Gimme a minute
OK

(K)

IT ISN’T ME:

The early morning sky hangs low
Stampeding monstrous clouds
Into the West
The sky is vast this morning
Gateway to the infinite

Wood fire burning in a plastic boat
Prayer flag
Bicycle
Plant pot
Gnome
Floating homes
Castles
Bedsits
Outsiders peek
Through pinched curtains
Into the lenses of weekenders

Birds honk
Fists in pockets
Wade in shallows along river banks
Grandfathers at outside privies
Ripped newsprint
Hung on string for the wiping
Ritually dipping beaks
Regard us with pity
Shake their heads

As we cast off
Silent
Steer into mid stream
Heading north
Reluctant
Cathedrals
Drop down from the clouds
With open arms
Expectant of our return
Swans rise into the sky
Transform into flying boats
Glance back
Laughing

Only the brave remain
As we approach
Floating in our wake
Cool as steel
Regard our cowardice with disdain

A chill morning bite
Before the first hit of tea
Hot
Black
Alive!
Faces steered into a cutting wind
Feel good
Fading

Sunrise
Black fingers run
Through wild grass
Fast & low from the east
Rises across the fens
Silvering pools
Taunts us with fleeting heat
Through cracks in buffalo herds

Prima ballerinas bob mid stream
Clowns bury heads beneath wings
Conceal new born
In tall grass along river banks
Singing to us
‘hey hey looser’

The cathedrals are elephant
Dinosaurs
Watching us slip in under cover
Returned to civilisation
The gloom of the news
The filth of the daily fear
Quarantined from infection
In green & sky
From paper
And broadcast irradiation

Surrendered
From that place of solitude
Invisible to the naked eye
Behind hedgerows
Across fields
The other side of commonplace
Where no one knew our names
Where even radio waves
Reduced to static

If you see me
Don’t act so surprised
I’m not who I was when we last met
I’m one degree removed
One click away
One less conversation
One less electric communication
I’m travelling
A spec of dust
Perpetual mover
A molecule
Broken from an asteroid
Held inside a sound
Carried on the wind
Across the fens

This
The one you see
It isn’t me

(K)

LADY MUCK:

Haugh
Haugh
Haugh
Sneers Lycra woman
Skimming across morning waters
Intimidating us
With muscular shoulders
And focused determination
To maintain a perfect body
Chastising us for sailing up
The wrong side of her river

I slip another biscuit
From the packet
Dip it in my tea
And return a smile

I just got back
From the other side of the world
Breathing the recycled breath
Of thousands
Wrapped in a tin can
And shot through the sky
Had my my skin turned inside out
And salted
Emotions flayed
And reconstructed
Into some useful
A dancer
A transmitter
A receiver
A piece of double sided tape
A traveller
A dog
A smiler
A signer
A hold on tighter
A don’t let it outer
A player
A watcher
A collector
A longer
A misser of things
And peoples
A place
On the other side of the world

I just fell out of the sky
With field dust
And desert dust
And city dust
And taxi dust
And minibus dust
And ports cabin dust
And smoke machine dust
In my lungs

Head turned to mush
Crossing international date lines
Boarder lines
Washing lines
Fine lines
The smell of pines
Illuminated by disco lights
On sacred tribal lands
And helicopter emergencies
Red lights flashing
Don’t worry mom
I’m doing fine, fine, fine
Keeping it inside the line
Good boy
Doing time
All that
Tick
Tick
Time
Where were you
Lady muck
Skimming across morning waters

(K)

MR CLEAN:

Oh yeah
Mr Clean
Engine running
Red light
Amber light
Green

Bird
And bird

Song
And song

Silent as a river

Protect
Hydrate
Remove
Deliver

(K)

TEA & BISCUITS:

I sent you a message,
Did you get it?
I left something precious,
Did you look after it?
Awkward reunion,
Figment of imagination

(K)

THE PULL ESSEX:

Victoria,
The place to be,
Artisan handcrafted transport,

Refrigerate,

We come to you pumped up,
Exclaimed,
Broke down by the side of the road,

Wrong way?

Go back,

Did you know?

Williams Town caustic,
How the locals love it,
Running free,
Red Rooster drive thru,
United Olympic alliance,
Incidental casino,
No Kings on Exhibition Street,

Don’t rub your eye,
We’re here

(K)

MELBOURNE #1:

Laser fish,
Open hand,
Sheila Science,
Promise,

Ice bait,
Man freight,
Three Kings stacked like chairs,

Copper thief,
Chilli chapel,
Electric duck,
Woman sweeping jungle off her step,

Yoga dog,
Mercy tank,
Phantom honey,
Low bamboo sky,

(K)