UP THE WEST END:

Thought I saw that bloke off the telly,
Walking fast through shoppers,
Invisible,
A serious expression of focused determination,
Running fingers of the left hand through his greying hair,
Outside the Palladium,
12:35pm,
Illuminated billboards of Britain’s Got Talent.

(K)

IT’S WARM INSIDE:

A woman with a grinning fist,
Wants me to sign up to a gym,
Dressed in Orange,
The new Black,
Fresh glass,
Under the bridge,

Come in,
We’re open,
Food dancing,
Freshly ground,
Looking for landmarks,

Joy!
Rub your face with fingers,
Catch a glimpse,
Look away,
Waiting for the lights to change,
Numbers counting down from 13,

Albion,
Street sweepers miss corners,
What’s the solution?
Dirt evolution,
I miss you,

Demolition in progress,
It’s alright,
It was meant to happen,
A Yellow plastic child’s windmill,
Tied to a railing,

Pickers,
Detectors,
Scavengers,
Bell ringers,
Marking the hours,

Standing at the shoreline,
A break in the clouds,
Seagulls calling,
Fall to Earth,
Counting footprints,

Husky is White,
Husky is small,
Husky is floating,
Ringed in rubber,
Putting metal to sleep,
On the riverbed,
White arrow,
Blue circle,
Half way to Heaven.

(K)

DOING CIRCUIT:

Got in the car.
Drove to a carpark,
Changed footwear,
Walked,
Dodging Sunday runners,
“Good morning”,
“Good morning”,
“Good morning”,
Photographed a strap hanging on a barbed wire fence,
Photographed a crushed tin box entangled in a broken branch,
Photographed a plastic bag pinned to a wooden fence,
Walked,
Talked,
Dodging Sunday runners,
“Good morning”,
“Good morning”,
“Good morning”,
Exchanging stories,
About here & there,
Life lived,
Mistakes made,
Lessons learned & forgotten,
Laughed,
Walked,
Dodging Sunday runners,
“Good morning”,
“Good morning”,
“Good morning”,
Turned off the road,
Through a rusted iron gate,
Photographed a fragment of an ‘L’ plate,
Up a dirt path,
Dog walkers waving,
Stick & ball,
“Good morning”,
“Good morning”,
“Good morning”,
Through mud,
Through a rusted iron gate,
A hole in a wall,
Exchanging stories,
Experiences,
Memories,
Laughing at how old I’d become,
Surprised,
Trying to work out why I didn’t feel it,
Laughing,
Turned down between the church & the alms house,
A back road,
Double yellow lines,
Parallel to curb stones,
Mazes,
Hawthorn hedges dancing naked,
The backs of houses,
Silent,
An enormous RZ,
Generator running,
Next to the duck pond,
The sounds of breakfast,
Plates & knives & frying,
Remembering holidays,
Caravans,
Sand dunes,
Surf,
Seagulls,
Kites,
Dipping nets on canes,
Arrived back at the car,
Changed footwear,
Laughing,
Drove home,
Exchanging stories.

(K)

THE POST LADY DELIVERED:

Glove,
Love,

Pliers,
Liars,

Keys,
Bees,

Bag,
Flag,
Nag,
Wag,

Porridge?

Cat,
Bat,

Book,
Look,

Calendar?

Jug,
Mug,

Flask,
Cask,

Phone,
Bone,

Lap top,
Crap top,
Haircut,
Make up,
Lipstick,
Flipstick,
Dipstick,

Pole,
Coal,

Bicycle,
Icicle,

Banana?

(K)

IN THIRTEEN HOURS:

Drove a car,
Caught a train,
Caught a tube,
Caught a train,
Caught a train
Caught a tube,
Caught a train,
Drove a car.

(K)

NOT IN SERVICE:

Piece of fruit,
Fruit of Peace,
Honey drip,
Cage on wheels,
Of bags,
Of familiar disposable things,

Is anybody waiting?
Hiding from bone-bitter cold,
Fingers wrapped around something hot,
Distracted by curvy jeans,
Slink across a food-chain dance floor,
I’ll have mine with raisins,

Everybody talks about you,
Fake leopard,
Looking for place to rest,
Americano,
Cappuccino,
Take my waste away,
Why did you loan it to me in the first place?

(K)

THE BOOK BY IT’S COVER:

Trainspotting crew transmit infectious laughter on radio waves.
Breakfast Show lifts a nation, recalling 1996, when I was a no hope
drunk, blacked out alone in a Soho flat, hoping to die in my sleep
as the world witnessed our star on the rise.

2017 & still alive, replete with hope, spooning porridge into the
morning body. Time to don suit & tie & bury a friend who always turned
the light on every time mine went out.

We never discussed music, didn’t want to test our friendship.
He worked in an office, clean-cut, suited & booted, I was in a band
for god’s sake, with notoriously weird taste.

Now I’m sat here in church, freezing my arse, the heats been on for
hours, but off for Three Hundred years. His favourite music is playing
as mourners file in. The woman next to me leans over, says,

“This is weird music to play at a funeral!”

But I’m grinning,

“This is one of my favourite bands since I was a little kid!”

(K)

WHAT YOU LOOKIN’ AT?:

Trust me,
Call me Dr Sunlight,

Pink bag in wheels,
Swiss Army lock,
You know if they see it they’ll cut it off,

Get yourself an education,
Like one-on-one,
Sudden drop,

Next stop – the Saint,
Fresh paint,
I mean – whaaat!?

Look up,
Chin up,
Laughing stock,

The sky is made of glass,
Leave it out!
What you on about?

(K)

SILENT CITY:

Walk the line,
Move the mouth,
Words taking turns,
Reshuffled like a deck of cards,
Hit the spot,
The mark,
Considered,
Returned,
Emerge upon request,
What’s going on in your head?

(K)

NIGHT EXPLODING IN A PARTY DRESS:

Enveloped in Dr Dream,
A languid expression,
Lay back,
Out of focus,

Chain,
Lock,
And key,

Everything as simple as a stuffed bird on a twig,
Do you know what I mean?

I mean – Whaat!!?

(K)