Poetry - 8

Black/White Black is the darkness of ending, The sum of the spectrum, A negative plectrum That plucks at the nerve ends of fear. But white is the promise of colour, The beginning of light That voids the dark night, The veil of redemption drawn near.

The Sheldon Cinema Art-deco palace gone, Wherein a thousand dreams took shape And were, for a moment, More real than any modern neutron bomb. They smashed a hole in your side My river Lethe celluloid. In you lived knightly deeds of derring-do, Embracing in a darkened womb A world beyond the world we all presume To be the real world of me and you. They smashed a hole in your side My river Lethe celluloid. Today they tore your silver screen Spilling out a million screams Of laughter, tears and fears, Now, like the lights, just a dream. They smashed a hole in your side My river Lethe celluloid. You taught me how to drop The nonchalant bon-mot, tie a dickey-bow How to smoke a cigarette like Herbert Lom, And all the strange delights of your back row. They smashed a hole in your side My river Lethe celluloid. Demotic men in metal hats swing metal balls At all the treasured memories Held within your walls. Red plush seats tilt awry, Ripping deep red carpets. And when I, in anguish, cry, “Why?” They answer back “A Supermarket”. They smashed a hole in your side My river Lethe celluloid. But, there’s one across the road, I saw it yesterday. Another by the Wheatsheaf, And one across the way. Is everybody shopping mad or is it only me Who remembers all the joy you gave, For only one and three? Pence that is, not these stupid pee.

Happiness The fragility of happiness is As beautiful and as delicate As a butterfly’s wing, That a thoughtless word or a rough touch Can shatter in an instance.

Friends Everywhere I walk My friends, Corporeal or invisible, Walk with me. I am never alone, Even in loneliness. My grandfather, My mother, My son and My son’s dog, Jack. They are gone, but Still with me, They comfort me. When I am gone, Who, I wonder, Will I walk beside? Who will I comfort? Loved ones certainly, A stranger in need? None of us is Entirely alone. None of us need fear The loneliness of spirit That withers up the soul. We are never alone.

The umbilical cord is a piece of elastic I’ve fallen out with... I’ve got this weekend free so... I’ve got to meet... Can you have the dogs? Can you have the kids? Can you look after...? Can you lend...? Can you spend...? Can I borrow...? Can I use...? It’s only for a day, A week, A month, The rest of my life. Who else can I ask? Why not? Why shouldn’t I? Me? Mow the lawn!

I am I am today, Yesterday was someone else, Tomorrow is a stranger.

Wondrous creature I am the most wondrous creature, For I can destroy all others. I can destroy environments, I can destroy myself. Clever, huh?