Thirty Minutes

One-and-a-half minutes past seven
Blue batik by my side
Still got the blues plays on the Bose
All of the connections I might ever wish for

Except the mountaineer poet is in the bathroom
Or rather his book
The order of the day resides there
Along with the caffeine hair restorer

I never did take hallucinogenic drugs
Yet I surely was a prime suspect
But maybe I lacked a deep adventurous spirit
Safer to tell the time, talk of books and records

Been There Done That
Available from Amazon

TV Critique

Last night it was the Mersey Poets
Yes, I have seen Roger McGough
Yes, I have seen Brian Patten
But that was thirty years ago

And only last month
I cancelled my Labour Party membership
Though I have offered to help
With fund raising and projection

It is true, socialism is within me
With half a mind that communism could work
It is more true, my distaste for the tories
All my life their bile has been poured over me

Better to look at the limp leaves
On the, fading into autumn, cherry blossom tree
More satisfying then to remember the role love played
When seeing poets in performance

Been There Done That
Available from Amazon

Dear Departed

The dead fly lays on its back
In this, the best of all summers
Could its death really be claimed
To be due to natural causes
Or was it more likely heat exhaustion
Having found himself at the window
Which does not open

Which cannot open
What is the lifespan of a bluebottle
Or a common or garden buzzing fly
What are the rites of passage
Should we celebrate, or grieve his demise
And is The Eagles New Kid in Town
Really funeral procession music

Been There Done That
Available from Amazon

Stipple

The sound is muffled
The sound is made clear
The sliding door is shuffled
The volume becomes near

Brothers in Arms
My first compact disk
The hi-fi salesman’s charms
The Blue Nile, more of a risk

Here on the upstairs landing
Where the new white light
Questions the decorators standing
Was the paint he used quite right

Been There Done That
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Done That

I had nothing else to think
The images kept on loading
So so close to the brink
Lust with love exploding

I had nothing else to think
The scents are out of the bottle
So so carefully, so subtly distinct
Skin is on skin, ready to topple

I had nothing else to think
The soulful music sways
So so pure, so sure in shocking pink
Beside her now he lays

Been There Done That
Available from Amazon