It has been a busy day
I have escaped a long long way
Early on I was talking to Mr. Masefield
Resplendent in his business black suit
The cut was neat, lined with finest silk
The hair was brave, not a Locke did misbehave
He was with Elisabeth, is it Mrs. Stanhope Forbes
By the edge of the woods, turkey crop and scythe
They were wondering at the Moonlit View
Of Mr. Francis Darby’s Eastern city
As they dared to forsake, partake
In Mr. Geoffrey Hill’s grinning cake
In the background, surround sound all around
Beside you, sang Mr Van Morrison, oh Astral Weeks
It has been a very busy day
I have escaped ever such a long long way
Journeyed almost as far as Camilla
Who married again, this day, today
I did not go to the service
I spilt my tears among the radio congregation
Tears of joy and there but for the grace of god go I
Or is it the North Wind
Blowing alongside the dust ball, to the canal basin
That which I am to engage with, in regeneration
A long term plan, you say
I retort, as if Capability Brown ever saw
His landscapes as anything more than nature
In full sway, in full public awe
Here in Weston Park, under the mid-day
Noon time dark
Clouds, clouds with Eastern rain
And Southern comfort
It has, as I say, been a long long day
I’ve escaped, escaped in a very busy way
Before meeting Mr Masefield
I’d scribed a few words of my own
Memories of yesterday’s funeral
Polish youth, in Polish dress, the Pope was thus blest
Memories of yesterday’s other funeral
The receivers set the works to rest
Oh and lest I forget
I’d imagined and spoken, words under my breath
I’d spoken, under my breath
Another day, escaping death
It has been such a long day
Escaping in many a different way
Unlike the child dying in St. James Hospital
By the Poet’s hand in the library compilation
‘Out of Fashion’ I recall the cover rolled
Although I did not study the small print
I did though take the flyer
To hire a china dragon, a dragon blowing fire
And I bought some books, go on, take a look
Yes it is John Stammer’s ‘Stolen Love Behaviours’
And Jackie Kay’s Life Mask, although I thought
The cover was an Eduardo Palozzi creation, it was in fact clay
And finally Scenes from Comus by Geoffrey Hill
Ticked by the Archbishop of Canterbury no less
It has been, as once again I say
It has been a long day
It is not yet noon, although it will be evening soon
Beneath the midnight of the moonlit moon
Except that today, yes today of all days
Today I am escaping away
