black
Friday
only
cognoscenti know what square
windows
did for the Comet but as
people
on the street look up watch out
few
are surprised
who
has studied The War of the Worlds
hardly
Bible class whereas the film
starring
what’s-his-name was not a flop
but
it’s blasé
folk
just go about their daily lives
no
one gives a monkey's any more
seen
it all a million times before
bingeing
in bed
here's
a deal to take the edges off
tablets
will be round to match your eyes
gravity
keep your feet on the ground
sounds
will surround
this
for just a tenner on the nose
no
subscriptions extra charges one
payment
buys a lifetime's guaranteed
re-al-i-ty
II
jurassic
talk
razor
wire circumcises piles
fifteen
storeys high & built to rock
on
through earthquakes while their neighbours take
pot
bloody luck
dinosaurs
were just as proud their lines
stretched
a hundred million years before
jabbering
with homeys down the banks
stars
hit the floor
most
of them were buried where they fell
few
indeed that scurried off or flew
those
that did bore with them all that time
like
a capsule
precious
dna containing what
conversations
eh a Socrates
here
a Gloria Stein there who knows
how
many wise
pterodactyls
took their poetry
seriously
or how much the good
old
inhabitants of Earth we've plain
misunderstood
III
quick
nit fix
stand
aside Doctors a surgeon called
Stanley
of the Hozzy takes the floor
powdered
glass has been ingested fetch
hot
water towels
give
the bugger room to struggle fools
can't
you see when a suicide's been
staged
& what’s the pong in here I know
fee
fi fo fum
something's
been smelling an English man
clear
the operating theatre
brought
your scalpel Watson hold my cape
opera
gloves top
hat
& tails haven’t seen the like since
Series
Two & quick about it or
else
the boys from Scottie Rd will come
skulking
indoors
actually
the patient's healed himself
put
the kettle on I say Nurse Peel
marry
me tomorrow would you eh
open
& shut
IV
crocodile
gas
sleepless
nights I've lain & wondered how
Kerouac
my hero aged sixteen
in
his cups would bang the door & scream
QSTB
QUIT
is dubious I don’t recall
words
so much as sentiments but stop
isn't
friendly advice or mean leave off
QSTB
SCREWING
nails the coffin down for sex
done
by men to women read this text
photographs
are screwed against a wall
QSTB
THE
means nothing as in nameless bod
Marilyn's for example whose real
name
was Norma losing her I-D
QSTB
BLONDE
is beautiful but dumb & how
jealous
man who lives with Mum admits
tit
head bum those legs would break his neck
QSTB
V
coward's
way
that
Kashoggi moment when you think
go
indoors or stay out on the street
stick
yr bonce right in the lion's mouth
see
what it’s like
get
the heck off & run for yr life
find
some hole to crawl in batten down
seven
kinds of hatches be no good
they
is abroad
keep
yr mouth tight shut is what I say
if
it kills me makes no sense to write
up
the truth the truth ain't worth a dime
better
to lie
hell
no worse than penning jingle bells
wheels
come off the batmobile all right
quiet
as a mouse the giant's hall
echoes
that much
tip
toe down the beanstalk hand in hand
Cinderella's
ashes to return
sorry
folks I'm leaving on the train
VI
saved
crusties
had us fight for their beliefs
saints
in baggy keks & grizzly beards
now
we’re dead they'll claim we've gone to hell
heaven
as well
can't
you tell it isn't very clear
where
we are our voices echoing
ear
to ear in silent stabs of fear
Mother
we call
memory
plays tricks on her with us
but
by phone telemetry remains
true
to sound & vision even when
life
is erased
still
our numbers circulate because
normal
service is resumed in time
lives
recycled innit what a peach
science
be praised
signing
off for now press hash to save
everyone
remembers everything
nothing's
lost the cloud retains it all
see
us again
VII
out
of this world
on
the hole I see things differently
through
the blackest space a prick of stars
silhouettes
my hands & feet the suit
keeps
nothing out
while
I'm working whistle Rocket Man
Major
Tom or Fly Me To The Moon
when
the sun turns up again I sing
Here
Comes The Sun
mooch
my merry way around the globe
booties
dangling over mother Earth
fairground
ride to beat all ragtime band
gathering
eggs
fire
dragons lay in mushroom clouds
not
just an everyday planet must
have
some overlap of blue & white
struggling
with life
fill
my basket then move on the net
widens
in & out the ozone weaves
patterns
no one understands bar me
perched
on the hole
 |
Not laughs & tears.
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