I JUST WANNA TELL YER

And she said....

I don't know about you
But I'm guessing
We're not that dissimilar
Being from the same
Errm
Planet
And all
I mean you are from
Uranus
Uranus
Too, right?
Forget it
My little joke
But...

I didn't
I'm not

RUDDY SKIN

Still
I can't complain
Being North European
And having all the
Advantages
Of that
Just wish it was thicker

LIBERTY TAKES A HOLIDAY

#1

 LIBERTY GOES UPTOWN

Liberty lived in New York

But she had never seen the city

She was too busy

With work

One day her work just dried up

She didn’t know why

There was nothing left for her to do

She put down her flashlight

Took off her tiara

Scratched her head

Rested her arms

And looked about

Her neck creaking with stiffness

She saw that her uniform was a little shabby

And so, she thought, a trip to Manhattan

To shop!

It wasn’t very far

She landed on the island and walked up Broadway

There was nobody around

But all the stores were open

Where had everyone gone

She wondered

Maybe they’d moved on

Inland

After that last storm

And then there had been the constant sun

She stomped around the fashion district

Then peered up 5^th Avenue

Surely they’d have something to fit somewhere

Her eyes were wide as Macy’s windows

Framed in an eight foot face

Yet dazed by emptiness

She had seen the Empire State looking sad

And the Chrysler a bit twisted

As she gazed in wonder at what humans could do

With some glass and metal and concrete

She sat down on the Library steps

And contemplated her huge feet

As she took off her sandals

Size 82’s

In the scale of the human race

Maybe there was nothing for her here

It wasn’t much fun without people

Maybe she would have to go to China

She decided to ask the President if he needed her at all

So she set off for South Dakota and Mt. Rushmore

x

.

THE HOUR OF THE STAR

"Who has not asked himself at some time or other: am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?"




Clarice Lispector

ORGANICISM

The bar on Avenue B looked suitably dirty

It was dark and the windows gave no hint

As to what went on inside

I needed someplace quiet

To finish the thoughts I had been carrying

There should have been sawdust on the floor

Like the Bloodtubs of years ago

A few bearded men sat at the bar

Nibbling on their nuts

It was a trick they’d learnt early

I ordered a stout and watched the menu

And looked at the t.v. screen

Two ultimate fighters got bloody on the canvas

It was obscene

The pizzas were dairy free

And the gravy was vegan

They have landed

A few punches

A righteous hook

Here and there

The cheezeless amongst us

ANOTHER JOHNNY FLASHBACK

Daryll on my doorstep… wrecked in the face and other places from his years as a rent boy to City Bank reamers… teeth like boiled corn…fingers papery as moths… asks me everyday for a couple of quid…sometimes I ask him to get the fuck off my porch, other days we go for a drink together… at the Barley Mow of all the bars… I can see the youth in him then… his eyes shine with moment not memory… but he is thinking of taking the bible up … seriously… He says he doesn’t want to always be lost… and now that his looks have gone... What has he got but unwanted experience... He would rather share someone else's... 

CRAVY

CRAVY

They would come over to play, especially in the summer. Whilst my brother was busy fighting with Jimmy, I would hide under the bed with Holly. Holly and me would innocently investigate each other, and not having anyone to report to, I would mentally store my tentative findings for future reference. I don’t know what she did with hers.

I liked Holly, she had the best mouth and a soft voice. She asked me things. She never shouted or got upset like I did. She was comfort.

Her hair reminded me of breast meat on a roast, the blonde strands through my fingers instead of the tines of a fork. I knew it wasn’t complimentary to say your hair is like cooked chicken, greased as that was with connotation, but to me the thought was soft and warm and all I had for comparison. Still, I had the sense to keep my mouth shut. Not that I needed to give compliments. I was after nothing. 

I think of Holly on occasional Sundays but since my Nan died nobody cooks up that memory as much.