Hunter Wolftruckle – hipster commando, dumps a honeysuckle spritzer in tango, drops a fresh frappe as he watches hot coffee, ill-gotten stock, venti cups full of frothy
white gold, slipped under the counter, not sold. And Hunter knows –
Back from the hole, a band of coffee chuggers, thugs on remand from the clink, drink muggers tucking hot cups into pockets and sleeves, the city’s most notorious coffee lifters, tea-leaves, gritty and inglorious grifters to a man – it’s the Black Bean gang.
And that means that nearer than he’d like is the fiend they fund with stacked flat whites. He’s never seen her – Her ledger’s clean as creamer – Our hero can’t believe a second later when he feels a funny feeling from the freezer – and there behind the steamer – the omniscient schemer
Fontina De l’Oringina.
‘Freeze!’ cries Hunter, ‘Hipster commando!’ Squeezes his beanie on, quick as he can go, flashes his badge and his flat-waxed moustache and rolls his plaid sleeves, set to take out the trash —
WILL D’LORINGINA ESCAPE WITH THE STOLEN COFFEES?
WILL HUNTER EVER FIND HIS LOST LOVE, TRAVIS PICKLEFLY?
Our Donna stood tall as a spire of sweaty meat, stuck in a kitchen on a city centre square staked on a pole, slowly spinning, streaks of her skin sliding off under saline, but stuck still and taken for granted.
She vanished piece by piece, every night shedding satisfaction for salivating strangers seeking something more, sharing of her salt in silence.
She perished – not so fast that folks saw and sobbed – – not even slow so that we were sick of the sight and the stink – but steady, at the speed where the guy who slid her slick off the spit and hauled up another one, singing to himself and licking his lips, didn’t even notice her slip away.
This is Craig Charles’ 1998 poetry collection, No Other Blue, transcribed just because I’d like it to be more easily available. I believe it’s out of print, but feel free to stop me.
The line and stanza breaks may not be as intended – some of these are illustrated by Philippa Drakeford (and I’m too lazy to upload scans, sorry) with the lines broken up to fit the illustrations, so in those cases I’m making my best guess.
Some poems have author’s notes from CC, which I’ve included.
I like writing poems
I like writing poems But it’s getting me down Because I can’t put my pencil down.
I like writing poems But it gets in the way. Addicted to write A poem every day.
Why do I always reach for the pen? To tell everyone that I’m unhappy again. Why do I instinctively write down in verse The most mundane things, both tiresome and terse?
I wish that my pencil knew all that I think And would write it down for me, whilst I have a drink.
George McGee
I feel sorry for old George McGee because George was actually one of my decent classmates. I changed the name of the real culprit because he was doubly likely to sue.
I knew this kid at school, By the name of George McGee He was always passing wind and Blaming it on me.
He’d hit me in the classroom And he’d hit me in P.E. Like he’d wait for me to get the ball When we were playing in the gym He’d either push me over Or kick me in the skin
He was that sort of kid. The sort of kid who cheats at conkers. It wasn’t totally his faul though – His family were bonkers. His dad did his homework once, It made me a jealous sight – That was until he got his book back And found out he wasn’t right
He was that sort of kid. The sort of kid who washes hamsters in vim. The doctors took him away, and did some tests on him.
I hadn’t seen George from that day to this Until, despite my pleading, The little sneak – On tuesday week – He pulled me up for speeding.
I want to feel your bum
This was one of my earliest efforts and actually won a poetry competition. It always amused me writing a love poem that started with the opening line…
I want to feel your bum, But I know you’ll slap my hand. And every time I see you smile, It makes my alter ego stand. I want to kiss your lips, But I’m scared about my breath. I want to hold your hand, But I’m half frightened to death. I want to drop formalities And let my fingers roam, But my mum’s Banging on the ceiling Telling me To take you home. I want to take you to the pictures But your study’s in the way. And leaving can be grieving When you always want to stay. I want to marry you this instant And let my feelings delve. But my dad said I’ll have to wait, Because I’m only twelve.
Shipwreck my soul
Ever since Dylan Thomas wanted to shipwreck his soul between someone else’s thighs, I’ve been looking for places to shipwreck mine. The girl in question was a computer programmer, hence the software in my softness.
I want a cold pebble beach, I want sea in your hair, I want salt and sand on your skin. I want to bathe my hands in the waves of your hair, And bathe your body all tight and trim And shipwreck my soul in your eyes.
I want to see you dressed real minimalist, In lycra and in lace The cool damp cotton towel Can wipe mascara from your face And I will shipwreck my soul in your eyes.
‘Cause you’re pretty in lace and satin and silk You’re mine. That’s not to say I own you, Just a time share holding.
She’s pretty, she’s pale, she’s soft, she’s warm, she’s clean, She’s the computer rash in my machine Affecting mind and motion, thought and deed, And wherewithall My love. Where, with all my love.
Brewer’s droop
I wrote this on the sea wall at Llandudno after an unsuccessful attempt to consummate the relationship with my (little did I know then) soon-to-be ex -wife.
I can’t feel that feeling any more. The tingle doesn’t tingle Underneath my overalls. Embarrassment and panic Shame when you think it’s Getting hard again, it doesn’t It just limps a bit and falls.
You just don’t know The place to look When you find you can’t get it up And the feelings just don’t feel the same When the fingers stroke again,
Again,
And I can’t make My burner flame From tip to top to core.
The tension tends to aggravate When you find that you can’t copulate And your tingle Cannot mingle Any more.
And your ego can’t kick-start and go If you can’t make those juices flow. And you know, I know, we all know A man – is not a man Without a spanner in his hand.
And you feel, I feel We all feel This need to overpower To turn on And deflower But it’s hard Without the power In your loins.
Or it isn’t hard Without the power In your loins.
And it might just get to irritate When you find that you can’t fornicate When your arrow is bowed instead of straight And you can’t get that friction in your groin.
And it’s easy for you to say: ‘Where there’s a willy Then there’s usually a way.’ But that statement is easily said When the thing’s all wrinkly and dead, And it’s not that firm, upright and bold And my balls are crinkly and cold.
But I suppose it’s pretty funny That in this land of milk and money It’s too much to touch the burning crutch Of your true intended honeybunch.
And she says she loves me, She knows I’m competent Love is a many-splendoured thing, – It sometimes makes you impotent.
And she holds me close And she bathes my wounds And she kisses me, and then – The lantern lights Light up her eyes And I’m sure It’s getting hard again.
Halt
Written in the late eighties after the post-mortem on the 1981 riots had supplied vast areas of our major cities with ‘community policemen’. Performed in this version on Channel 4’s Black on Black and later reworked for Saturday Night Live.
Halt! who goes there? Asked the policeman. Don’t you know it’s getting late? Have you been running, nigger? – You do look in a state! Where’ve you been to, nignog – Where’re you going – What’s your name? Answer me you little animal, I’m not playing a game!
He hit me on the head and I started to cry Operation eagle eye.
Empty out your pockets – Let’s have a look inside. We can do it at the station, If you really want the ride. Have you been in trouble with the police before? Have you broken any ancient law? In the riots I was hit by a nignog I think it’s time to even the score.
Get into the car! he said, Before I tan your hide, And he grabbed me by the shoulder And he pushed me clear inside, He said –
Show me some identity To prove you’re you instead of me. I looked in the wing-mirror, I said, that’s me.
He said, that’s pretty funny, Sonny, Laugh, it’s a bust! Then he said, You’ve been sussed. You’ve been thieving, Haven’t you? Come on, where’ve you stashed the cash? Don’t be a smartarse, Answer when you’re asked! A couple of streets away an old lady’s been attacked Open those rubber lips, my son, Or you might just take the rap.
All of a sudden, the radio came through. I don’t know what was said. Those things are Hard to understand. But he pushed me out of the car with the back of his hand, and said: I’ll see you later. And zoomed off up the street.
So I shrugged my shoulders And took to my feet. Walking along the pavement, All in one piece – After another confrontation with community police.
I hate the way…
Written from my remand cell in Wandsworth prison. I was trying to parallel the way a spouse would feel after many years of wedlock… lock being the operative word.
I hate the way you sleep. The clucking and the bucking and the grinding of your teeth.
And by the way, I hate the way you breathe.
I hate the way you eat, The slopping and the popping and the sucking of your teeth.
And can I say, I hate the way you speak.
I hate the way you wash, The way you hold the flannel, The bucket and the mop.
Being with you never – Ever – Ever seems to stop, It just goes on – And on – And on – And on –
I’m driven to despair.
And by the way I hate the way You’re always – Bloody – There.
You’re getting in my way, you’re on my nerves, I’ve got a notion –
Solitary confinement Could be seen as a promotion.
Bully for you
Prison is full of psychos, and that’s just the people work there! Says it all really…
I only had a tin of tuna and a bottle of Quosh, When a peabrain with a keychain And a little wooden cosh Comes into my cell, And goes, bosh
We got couriers in cannabis, Smuggling in pot, Someone’s put it on you, man, It’s coming out on top, You’ve got yourself into a spot.
He dug through my detritus then, His wrists were in my slop. Trying to intimidate, To make me have a pop So he could finish me off Down the block.
A PP9 battery in a plain brown sock. The doc don’t come when you knock When they finish you off down the block.
The man was bad, mean; but dead keen And lived behind a smoke screen Life a series of doors that he’s gotta keep locked. Nasty, Snidey, Uneasy, And untidy A petty little bigot who never gets shocked.
Accustomed to the violence, The conspiracy of silence, The poxy little victories, and shoddy little knocks. They’re gonna finish me off down the block.
He lit a cigarette
This poem started life as a song called ‘Open Up’ on the BMG / RCA label for a singer called Suzanne Rhatigan. The album bombed, but I hope not because of the words!
He lit a cigarette with a lighter from Spain, Two weeks in Malaga – eight days of rain. He had a gold-capped tooth and a rolled-gold chain. She knew things would never be the same.
She wore stiletto heels All scuffed with dirt, An ankle bracelet And a miniskirt. Although she wore a watch, she asked him the time, As she secretly undressed him in her mind. All the time secretly wishing she had no inhibitions.
Nine am on a twosday, tired and grey, She couldn’t think of anything to say. The bus was crowded so they had to stand, When he accidentally Touched her With his hand.
She felt a shiver shimmy down her spine, Took a deep breath, and took her time. She said, it’s nothing. He said, you’re far too kind, As he secretly undressed her in his mind. All the time secretly wishing He had no inhibitions.
Around nine thirty-five They rolled into reception. There was tension and desire As they signalled their intention They were touching on the newness Of a tentative connection.
They touched the power
In a room so often rented by the hour.
Yuppy
This poem was written in the mid-eighties at the height of the yuppy boom. I hope and pray that the poem lasts longer than the subject matter. It was performed on a variety of TV shows and was an intregal part of my first-ever one-man show which premièred in Edinburgh in 1986 and then toured the world.
He’s got a Rolex watch And a filofax So that he can correlate his facts. He gets anxiety attacks. He’s doing well, but he can’t relax ‘Cos he’s a yuppy.
He’s got a GTI, His girlfriend looks like Lady Di, With a briefcase That contains the face, Time out, and bloody ‘Ell French elle And English elle As well, ‘Cos he’s a yuppy.
He likes caviare on French bread, And likes French cheese and pickles, He’s got inexhaustible supplies of pink and white shirts That he bought from Harvey Nichols. He’s a yuppy,
He’s a guy you’ll like, He works off excess energy On an excess energy exercise bike, The excessive executive, Exclusive and extreme. He doesn’t want to be a never-was, He doesn’t want to be a has-been. But he has been seen, Reading Harpers & Queen In an Italian pizzeria In the Covent Garden area ‘Cos he’s a yuppy.
He’s Gucci, Pucci, Fiorucci, His girlfriend shops at Nina Ricci. His favourite food was fettuccini, But now he’s gone all Japanesey – He does karate, He eats sushi, And drinks sake, ‘Cos he’s a yuppy.
He lives in a world of Porsches, Fuel-injection turbos and gasoline. He lives in a world of finance, Corporate business pressure and amphetamine. And when he goes home, He talks a bit of business He comes before she’s finished, And he doesn’t understand Why she always moans when he comes home. Life to him is an empty glass And an ashtray overfull. He’s never been exciting So he’s never ever dull When he comes home.
She lives in a world of lotions, Waging war against her wrinkles with beauty cream Well-assorted potions rubbed into her body So she’s soft and clean. And when she’s not home She shops in all the boutiques Never keeps her receipts And she doesn’t understand Why he always moans when he comes home. Life to her is a bubble bath And private bank accounts She pays for wealth with happiness And that’s a serious amount When they are home.
Hypothermia
Saturday Night Live allowed me to give this poem its first airing around the time that pensioners were dropping like flies and being discovered by postmen delivering heating grants from the government. If ever the Conservative ministers look back, they may consider this one of their darkest hours.
It’s got so cold I’ve caught the flu, I go out without gloves, and my fingers turn blue, I go to the shops and I go to the shows, And snot keeps dripping out of everybody’s nose. It’s all anoraks and duffle-coats, woolen scarfs and mitts. It’s been here for far too long and now it’s Getting on my nerves.
I’ve got an affliction, I’ve got a disease – The snot won’t stop, the sneeze won’t ease. And it’s easy for you to say, That’s how it goes, But it doesn’t, it stays, I’ve caught one of those.
But I can handle it – I’m a big strong strapping lad. It’s not the flu that’s making me mad – It’s the press reports we’ve had. You see, it seems people die When the weather turns dull. It’s like an annual seal cull.
And it might be a grandma of yours that’s freezing, Sitting there shivering in layers of old clothes. Worrying because the cost of heating’s getting higher, Wishing she could feel her fingers or her toes. Now, you must remember granny, The one who struggled through the war. Now final reminders she’s alive Come flooding through the door. While the ones who send the bills out Live in a centrally heated flat, The old are wrapped in blankets As they watch the thermostat.
When I was a kid – which wasn’t long ago, Winter meant skates, and snowball fights. If you got one in the face, It wasn’t very nice, But you could handle it. You built snowmen, And gave them potato eyes, A carrot for his nose was the usual trick. Kids these days use the carrot For his dick, and the potatoes – Well, who knows.
My grandparents must have done that too When they were young and sprightly. I wonder if they realised That it would come to this, That they’d be hanging onto Life so tightly.
I wonder if they realised That after all those years of work Their pensions would just about keep them fed. And heating allowances applied for long before Would start arriving Three days after they were dead
And it makes my blood boil When these cold-hearted tricks Get given new identities And re-labelled: Economics
You see, there must be Heat for homes in winter – No matter what the cost Or is the Conservative Party Chairman The Right Honourable Jack Frost?
Family way
Written in my first bedsit, aged seventeen. It’s Liverpool early eighties through and through.
Mother sits alone and knits Bonny boots for auntie’s newborn baby. Father sits alone and spits Right into the grate, And tells my mum To shift her bum – The dinner’s getting late. And our Jimmy’s coming home in Spring – Did eighteen months for robbing things Like houses, cars and wedding rings, And all those things That are inbetween. And our Julie’s in the club again, And when she’s asked I’m sure she’ll say She has no luck with men. And when I’m asked I’m sure I’ll say That I’ve been in The family way.
My dad took me aside and said: ‘Don’t dare go down the pier head – The ships have gone, the water’s black, With dirty men, with long black macs Weaving dirty drunken tracks, And leaving dirty drunken paths.’ But I guess my dad just can’t relax Since he got sacked. For thirty years he broke his back Till work got slack. And now he goes And drinks his dole In public houses Battered by the times. And mum wakes up and cries at home And grandma calls her on the phone, And when she’s asked, I’m sure she’ll say That she’s been in the family way. And when we’re asked, I’m sure we’ll say We’ve all been in the family way.
Our Julie’s only seventeen, She works in some launderette. She doesn’t like it very much – It’s all that she could get. She’s getting married pretty soon, All dressed in virgin white. Mother said that’s what she’d like – She wants her kids to do it right. So our Jimmy stole A wedding ring, So she could have The real thing. And he got caught And that’s what Bad luck brings. And when he’s asked I’m sure he’ll say That he’s been in The family way.
No other blue
I tried to wrap this poem up in colours and flowers, using colours and flowers as names. It’s sugary, syrupy and sentimental, but I’m proud of every saccharine-coated crystal.
I want rosy days, dozy days, That start in the mist And the morning haze, And finish with kisses, and cuddles and you, With eyes of no other blue.
I want lazy days, daisy days, Chaffinches, churchbells And songs of praise, That finish with kisses, and cuddles, and you, With skies of no other blue.
I want spring in your step, And a kiss on your lips, Bad weather could never ever eclipse Those rosy days When I love you to bits, When I reach out and give you A great big beautiful kiss.
I want funny days, sunny days, When colours collide like a birthday bouquet, I want lily and lilac, violet and jade, A golden brown sky at the end of those days, And finish with kisses, and cuddles and you, Whispering words of no other blue.
In the city
In the city Dirty brick walls and painted lamp-posts, As I walk down streets with Dirty gutters and cracked-up pavements, And broken, battered chipshop shutters, Nazi signs and Bedroom windows, Rusty garden gates off their hinges, and Doorsteps where all the moss grows, and Windworn alleys where All the wind blows In the city. The milkmen drive armoured cars ‘Cos the bricks break the bottles When the kids go to school, And graffiti on the wall says: Anarchy rules And no-one’s in when the gasman calls, No housewives in aprons, No men in overalls. Some kid In the street Screams and bawls In the city.
Consultants
This was written during the riots of 1981. I was seventeen and, dare I say it, Molotov-friendly.
Consulting his notebook, He said: It’s funny how niggers Don’t show bruises. And to demonstrate the point He kicked me in the head And my body didn’t move.
It was an interesting experiment They had something to prove. To determine the difference Between black skin and white They spoke at length About relative thickness And tensile strength And how bruises don’t show on the black, And the thin blue line stood back To allow the scientist to proceed.
It’s funny how niggers Don’t show bruises. But if you kick me enough I bleed.
Interracial sex
Written for Saturday Night Live on the day they legalised interracial sex in South Africa. I performed it to an electrified audience who each time answered my doubts in the affirmative! Whilst compiling this book I contacted the South African embassy in London asking for the exact date of the legalisation. They were unable to recall it and have not got back to me. Change?
It’s on the news It’s in the press – They’ve legalised interracial sex.
I wonder if the Africans were Really impressed? Undid their shirts, took off their keks And went and had a party. I doubt it. Don’t you?
Did the authorities think That they’d stop the unrest? There’d be black civil rights leaders too out of breath To organise a demo, or choose to mourn a death, Because they’d been too busy having interracial sex? I doubt it. Don’t you?
Will there be sex in punishment, sex in pain, Sex in bondage, sex in chains, Sex with women, sex with men? Will they be doing it again and again and again? I doubt it. Don’t you?
Or is it just another whitewash, Just another con? Everybody’s happy, But the killing still goes on. I think so. Don’t you?
Blood on a white flag
This Falkland Islands poem was written on the day the Sun pronoucned ‘Victory’ on its cover.
Blood on a white flag, Gently bleeding in the wind And tint grains of sand Are all that you can find To hide behind.
Medals flash like photographs, And deep inside the bunker A teenage soldier asks For brandy or whisky, Some spirit to ease the pain.
And the general says, ‘Be still keep quiet, They’re attacking us again.’
So the spirit left And deep inside the gloom Of a decomposing room They pinned onto his bloody chest a medal.
Then they wrapped his head in paper, And put him in the rain.
The pain; Don’t forget the pain. You’ll never be Innocent again.
Flesym
In my infrequent bursts of blind religion, I throw my hands to god And I let the dreary rhythm of the dead Excite my fingertips.
But sometimes when the vision slips I see the opened coffins stood on end And the devil fires his gun My god is gone.
On my half-hearted trips back home I let my mother eat me with her hairy lips Whilst I return back to the womb And, safe inside familiar walls I sleep in peace at last.
In my special moments Of everloving tenderness I pull my woman close And pour my heart into her ear like wine.
But in my pristine moments Of brass-breasted arrogance I curl my fists into a ball And watch the wrinkled knuckles As they progressively turn white And stretching, crack the scabs That seal my dead blood tight.
In my reflective moods of self-indulgence I intrude upon myself and hear me sleeping And creeping for the lock Escape and rest a while.
But in my self-important moods Of concioence or conceit I turn my pen to paper, and Secrete across the page like a rushing slug.
In my self-eluding trips of alcohol abuse I feel hate, jealousy, greed And I shove the imagined borders Of my mind aside And invite them in to bleed.
Whilst in the stagnant moments of my calm After exploding into anger like a beaten drum. I interfere with words And with some fine mystique Maybe molest them Into beauty.
It’s strange
This was written for the BBC drama The Marxman. Instead of a theme tune they wanted to use a poem and I was comissioned to supply it. Lucky me, I also played the part of a murderer.
It’s strange that we go through life not daring to commit a touch and settle for so very little when we’ve longed for so very much.
It’s strange the way we think of god as someone upstairs in the sky who doesn’t care that in the basement the law is an eye for an eye.
It’s strange that in the confusion the hunter is the prey and revenge and retribution are the order of the day.
And it’s strange the way we go through life not daring to commit a touch and settle for so very little when we’ve longed for so very much.
Oh, God Would that I could concede And rest in thee.
Inverness
The slip of the moss through The trickle of water, The glistening boulders lie Still in their pools, Pine cones are open and Welcoming summer, We comb the brook, Brush the mud off our shoes; Fool’s gold and quartz in the Crystal-clear stillness, Time slipping by just like Water through fingers, The waterfall’s higher Up above in the distance, We climb side by side, and As god is my witness, I look in your eyes and I drown in the blueness. Inverness.
New life
My mother died of cancer months before the birth of my son in 1988. But it wasn’t until the mid nineties that I finally put pen to paper and wrote this poem.
I didn’t want to hear you calling my name. I didn’t want to see you cry. I hope you knew the reason why I couldn’t look you in the eye At all.
I saw you try to bite the hand that fed you Coloured pills to ease the pain. Pills to wash away the sins of modern scientific brains, I thought. The medicines redundant lay on the bedside table. I don’t know if you noticed, but you squeezed my hand And led me to a new life.
I try my best to think of you when Happy, but the memories are lame. I never wished I could feel pain, Wished I was innocent again Until now. I never wished I was a child again.Until I grew up too soon. Until I saw the hungry tears, Until I kissed the wetted mouth goodbye.
The doctors and the nurses, The bedclothes and the linen. They finally pulled the curtain. And you squeezed my hand And led me To a new life.
Spinner of years
This is my New Year’s Eve poem. I’m always pissed on New Year’s Eve.
Please raise your glasses To love, life and laughter, Smile for a moment, Be sad ever after; I’m raising my spirirts By drowning my sorrows, Continuing living In all my tomorrows; The future is rosy And so effervescent, But surprisingly quickly Can become the present. For one singular moment Forgetting your fears Will never allay The spinner of years.
Because time keeps on ticking, So drink to forget, But you can’t remember A person you’ve met, Who’s made you be comfortable, Made you be you, Your soul bared and naked, Afresh and anew. So please raise your glasses To love, life and laughter, Smile for a moment, Be sad ever after; Because time keeps on ticking, And all of your tears Will never betray The spinner of years.
So I’ll pour you a tumbler~ Of good sound advice, As bitter as lemon, Translucent as ice; The spinner of years Is the weaver of life; So let’s have another one, Let’s have three cheers, And let’s drink a toast to The spinner of years.
Porthcurno
Written in Cornwall whilst squatting in a cave on the beach below the Minack Open-air Theatre. I slept soundly. However, my girlfriend at the time arose every fifteen minutes to check on the tide.
The smell of the heather, The lavender carpet, The bite of the bracken, The roll of the hills, The seagull can hang in the winds of Porthcurno, Fresh honey can cure a variety of ills, The smell of the ocean, The spray of the water, The beat of a cricket, The song of a bird, The couch grass can bend to the tune of the windstorm. Alone in the darkness, Strange voices are heard. And all the stars Are going to come and visit me tonight. I never knew the moon was so bright. I never knew it flew so low, And never knew it was so round. And I never knew that silence was a sound.
Jump
I get claustrophobic, OK?
She’s got a baby of a hubby and a baby by him She just got out, but scarred some skin She was feeling shut in It made her want to jump, Plump for another option. It made her want to Jump.
I was riding in a subway Underneath Manhattan It was bringing on a lingering allergic reaction To feeling shut in It made me want to Jump, Plump for another option. It made me want to Jump.
When you’re lost in the dark, mindlessly groping Kicking yourself ‘cos you didn’t leave a backdoor open A window in your schedule, a means of cutting out A parachute, survival sit, A parting in the clouds. When you’re close to the edge It makes you want to jump, Plumop for another option. Start mixing up your chemicals, Moving your genes And cooking up Another concoction It makes you want To Jump.
In high places, Close to the edge Why does it always Cross our minds? I wonder why we wonder What it would be like To Jump.
Near-perfect minutes
In those near-perfect minutes, When I think my senses will forever swim In those near-perfect minutes, When my heart will beat forever on In those near-perfect minutes, When I think my beath will not return to me In those near-perfect minutes, Each second feels like an eternity. In those near-perfect minutes, After making love I haven’t the strength to smoke In those near-perfect minutes, When I pull you to my chest and crack a joke. In those near-perfect minutes, When imprisoned in your arms I feel set free In those near-perfect minutes, Each second feels like an eternity. In those near-perfect minutes, With my nerves as raw and naked as myself In those near-perfect minutes, When your kisses beat the rhythm of my pulse In those near-perfect minutes, When I think my breath will not return to me In those near-perfect minutes, Everything happens perfectly. Perfectly.
I miss the one who was there before – the one who disappeared and you took her face, – and her voice and her laugh – her friends – conned them you were her all along. You’re not her. I wonder if she’s out there somewhere cursing your name like I daren’t.
She felt for the lock in the dark, coming home late, key sticking in at the plate, leaving a mark and a scuff, click click stuck stuck fuck ugh – flipped her fist to a strain, and then – just – cold air through the threshold, through her and then sense in the skin, not the head. She got in good, rest at the bedposts. Stood on lead pins. With a tick of the clock she stopped – she dropped in the dark and got off.
Pretty sure no-one else can see
the giraffe-necked woman.
She only sees me:
she looks no-where else,
waits for me motionless behind blinds,
walls, trees, the dark, closed eyes,
her lids are relaxed, always as if amused,
lazily leaned into laughter lines
and her open mouth smile
so distended, her jaw
must be long broken, lips long gaped to
sticking that way, fastened, aching
long open, cartilege stiff,
the look never breaking,
Sometimes I meet her eyes,
stare her down, scrabble for the magic words.
Her reaction is resting there ready,
on me before I speak.
The neck is so I can’t forget, I guess:
she’s never explained any of it.
I get the impression I wouldn’t get it.
Or it’s funnier if I don’t know.
up there and the last dog is massive,
pained with the weight of it, outstrained
and bleeding out, impassive.
Red seeping through and thickening the mane,
a Clifford of sin,
breathing breaths so deep to tear the skein,
stretch the skin.
One day blood will pour down redwood bark,
tons of it,
pour through the scratches and rain down thin
’til the ground is filth and the skies are clean
and the seas are filmed, filtered red
like the backs of breeching sharks
and the wings’ll be all too heavy to reascend –
unsolemn silence will smother the holes we open up –
and when no-one comes to help
no-one will cry again.
Here’s a manifesto for the crowd
who’ve come to clap it –
and the rest of you can clock it
between laugh tracks and ad traps
and bulletins and sleep and shifts
in re-tweets and clips –
I’m a strong leader-
That’s basically it. I’m strong, like a bull
and full to the brim with it –
fit and trim, heavy with lustre so
big up my bluster and sing with it –
trust me –
Love me and I will love democracy –
stick with me and maybe
I’ll do something new –
lasso the moon and bring back the past –
lower your taxes too – maybe
whatever it is that you want –