Eastern Promise
Inflame, enrage
Engage the brain drip drain
driven train
Of the half asleep
Persecution, retribution
Coming to a UN solution
Of world contribution or
global escalation
On the Palestine nation
Oh Palestine, philistine
Washington does fucking
whinging
A war on terror, terrorism
Barbarism that breeds hate
Too late
We all know our fate
US pays its dues to
benefactor Jews
Suicide bomber has no
choice
Israeli tanks drowned out
her voice
For liberty, democracy
To live free from the
occupation tanks
Well thanks Yanks
For perpetuating a holy war
Hit the floor, sniper
bullets kill more
Escalating cycle of deeds,
breeds seeds
Of atrocity US complicity
Endlessly, regretfully
People are dying
Bulldozers crush through
the settlements
Breach the battlements with
armaments
UK government’s failure to
condemn
Encourage them again and
again
The men who commit more
crimes of time
To cross the line
Again and again
Come clean on the Geneen
Obscene cover-up, hush-up
The genocide, Sharron lied
How many died?
On a peace mission
Go Eastern
You want peace? Look East
Solve the problem
Cannot condemn Bin Laden
I understand
I understand
I understand
Fuck Israel.
Leaving
Once sought green fields
From a room sealed
Of mists of lands
That the sands of time
could not erode.
Ambitions need to define
The dreams crystallised in
a place
But dreams fade
Need to dream new dreams.
It’s time to go; it’s time to leave
It’s time to move; it’s time to go.
Soft and silken
I want to hold onto
something
Something that is real
To be blown away, to be
totally smitten
To be head over heals
To go to the end of the
world
To be out of this world,
out of this world
And the darkness comes
And the night falls
And the days remain the
same
Always the same.
It’s
time to go; it’s time to leave
It’s time to move; it’s time to go.
Once, twice maybe
Long ago or not
(I’m not too sure)
To loose control, to be out
of control
To do anything
To mean everything
To feel so awestruck,
dumbstruck and lovestruck
And the darkness comes
And the night falls
And the days remain the
same
Always the same.
It’s time to go; it’s time to leave
It’s time to move; it’s time to go.
It was easy, so easy.
On a windswept day
I looked out at bricks and
glass
Rain fell on the windscreen
and formed a hundred images
That melted and flowed
down.
I was free from this
maximum security
A safe existence, a safe
house
I’d followed the script,
obeyed the rules
Fifteen years, plus two for
good behaviour
Had to count for something
didn’t it?
I wanted to feel there was
a piece of me that still remained
That I had counted
That I had made a
difference
But things as such carry on
Replacements will come and
go
And life goes on
And I will be but a memory.
It’s time to go; it’s time to leave
It’s time to move; it’s time to go.
<A psychiatric ward
holds the sanity
The outside world holds the threat
That’s where the madmen are
These safe confines keep me safe
I’m not ready yet.>
Listen
Are you listening
carefully? Then I will begin
Did you hear everything
that I said?
Did you hear anything?
Do you understand?
How many times can you say
something?
To get the message across,
to tell the tale
To write the story, sing
the song
Make the film, paint the
picture?
You don’t have to do
anything
Be passive. Have a
non-speaking role
Listen
Listen in
Listening
List ten objects, that make
music to our ears
The soft percussion of the
kitchen clock
The stringed symphonia as the
water system circulates
The solitary car or lonely
train rumble out a bass line
A grunt and groan provides
a vocal accompaniment.
He said. She yelled. He
whispered. She sighed.
He cried. She shouted. He
spoke. She announced.
They softly screamed.
Softly, echoes die and fade
Do you listen? Do you hear?
Let it seep, creep in, flow
over
Like water, insidious,
punctuating
Words, stimulating, forcing
emotion
Touch a raw nerve, to
produce a reaction
Anger.
Hatred.
Laughter.
Love.
If you listen close enough
If you listen hard enough
You will hear the soul
You will hear the sunrise
You will hear the heaven’s
open
You will hear the bird’s
sing
If you listen.
Agenda
What do you think?
Are you ready for question
time?
Have you got the answers?
Have you got any answers?
What are your views?
Tell me because I really
want to know
I’ll spell out the
questions; I’ll take it real slow.
Foxhunting? Palestine?
Genetic engineering? The Euro?
Don’t look at the ground;
look at me
You haven’t had time to revise?
Swat up, well tough titty
matey
It’s all around you. The
information is there.
What do you think?
Hey big spender have you
got an agenda?
Think about it. Think about
it.
Hey big spender, been on a
bender
Think about it. Think about
it.
I think you better think
about it
Hey big spender, spend a
little time with me.
Who wants to be a
millionaire?
“I do.”
You do?
Well sorry but you take the
biscuit
And don’t cut the mustard
On the spot in the
spotlight
Ask the audience, phone a friend,
it’s fifty fifty
You either know it, or you
don’t
Think about it.
Sol
There are bombs going off
down Kandahar way
Sol Campbell’s still a
traitor down Tottenham Highway
This is not the end of the
world
Or good against evil
Just the world turning round.
Four bags, one flight of
stairs
Two journeys to a car
And it was over
Gone.
The end of the world as we
know it.
We interrupt this broadcast, but we are just getting
Reports;
unconfirmed, I stress, through the wires,
That a relationship is over.
First reports suggest that a
woman was seen leaving the building.
We’ll have more as the story
unfolds.
The end of the world?
There are bombs going off
down Kandahar way
Campbell still Judas on the
Tottenham Highway
Children cry across the
globe
My son has stomach ache
across the town
A place in time
A place in the world
Alone, together, the
distance is far.
The Day The Sky Fell
There wasn’t anything
special about that day
It would be a good day, the
voice on the radio had said
I remember him saying so
(And why not, why shouldn’t
it?)
But there was nothing I
wanted to remember
Before the sky came down.
I suppose it’s a good thing
that we can laugh at such things now
And the economics of
breakdown can be spoken of in reasonable terms
It seemed so simple and the
future was clear
As clear as that pale blue
sky
It was good to be matter of
fact
About an end of contract
Because, let’s face it,
that’s what it was
Before the sky fell down.
I could talk of memories
flooding back
But they didn’t
It was just a conversation
in a kitchen
Between two people who used
to know each other
That’s all it was
As the sky turned from blue
to black.
The radio that was on,
didn’t even play our tune
Not that we had one
And a news report gave the
impression
Of a hang-glider dangling
from a crane
It wasn’t that memorable.
And when the meeting was
over
It felt like we should
shake hands
And wish each other all the
best and have a nice life
But it didn’t feel right or
the appropriate thing to do
Just numb and slightly
saddened
The day the sky fell.
It was only later, in the
car, driving away
Watching the television
That I learned the truth
After the sky came down.
There, There, My Dear
You know what they say?
That you only miss someone
when they go away
Well it’s not true.
There, there used to be a
mirror
Two foot by four and a half
Upon which I used to
reflect upon
You.
There, there used to be a
picture
Of The Kiss by Klimet
Sat on the floor
Not hanging.
And there, there used to be
Place mats of elephants in
orange and purple
Two packs of
Although the most we used
were four.
There, there used to be
Your shoes and boots
Many of
Under all your coats and
jackets.
And there, there in the
bathroom
Two toothbrushes, now one
A razor, three bottles of
shampoo
Lined along the bath.
There on the floor I see
Dexy’s first album
“Searching For The Lost Soul Rebels”
Last track
There, there my dear.
Temporary
Faltering certainty
Why don’t you hold onto me?
Certainly certainty
Temporarily temporary.
Remember when you danced
with the most beautiful girl at school?
And kissed for minutes
And that was it
Nothing more.
Nothing to hold onto
Nothing that was real
She faded away and out of
sight.
Oh won’t you stay a while
Shut the door
Have a drink
Share a smile
Because this is temporary
Temporarily.
Whiteness of sunshine of
bride and groom
Broken hearts and separate
lives
And that is it
Nothing more.
Alone with the last breath
that fades to silence
That leaves me lonely and
cold
And that is it
Nothing more
Nothing to hold onto
Nothing that is real
He faded away and out of
sight.
Oh won’t you stay a while
Shut the door
Have a drink
Share a smile
Because this is temporary
Temporarily.
Scared by the silent silos
The nuclear warheads that
still stand primed and ready
Our place in the universe
With the space debris that
floats around
And I remember when I could
live forever
But, nothing lasts forever.
Oh won’t you stay a while
Shut the door
Have a drink
Share a smile
Because this is temporary
Temporarily.
Amazing Blossom
A phrase that stays
Lingers, deep in the psyche
That was triggered
At dusk the other day
Caught by fading sunlight
Reflected fluorescence
I saw it, standing out
Surrounding all about
Hanging from trees and
branches
White, gold, pink
I witnessed amazing
blossom.
You recited a poem
About the spring
You knew it word for word
And claimed it as your own
It was those words
“Amazing blossom”
That stuck
That followed me
And showed me new
perspectives.
It was only one year ago
That you could barely write
But now, here in bloom
Amazing blossom indeed.
A Night At Paco’s
Put on a jacket and drove
off into the countryside
Went off to a restaurant
highly recommended
Late summer, an aperitif on
the balcony
The menu looked good enough
to eat
And ordered promptly
And waited patiently
And time ticked by
Other diners were issued to
their table
They came and went
And still we waited.
Wished I had a flashing bow tie
Wished I had a wooden leg
Wished I was someone very famous
Or just a sign that said, “Look At Me!”
I couldn’t be less visible
I couldn’t be less significant
I couldn’t be more invisible
I couldn’t be more insignificant.
We drank our drinks,
fiddled with matches
Tension rose, tempers
frayed
Found a badge in my jacket
pocket;
“The World’s Best Dad”
Ate some nuts, patience
strained
Confronted the owner, a
jolly Spanish chap
“If you want quick food; go
to McDonald’s”
And “Food should be like
making love; never rushed.”
So we had another drink and
waited some more
And still others came and
ate
Late-comers came and went
And still we sat.
I couldn’t be less visible
I couldn’t be less significant
I couldn’t be more invisible
I couldn’t be more insignificant.
Then finally shown to our
tables
Stomachs felt like our
throats were cut
Starving, famished,
ravenous; we tucked in
But another table grabbed
my attention
A disabled girl sat with
her parents
Sat in her wheelchair tubed
up to her oxygen cylinders
She had her back to me
She spasmed and jerked as
her father fed her
Mashed up her food and
spooned it in
And I sat and stared
wondering what was wrong with her
What was her disease?
How did she feel; the
centre of attention to a gawping room
I wish I sat on a chair
I wish I had legs that worked
I wish I could chew my food
And had a sign that said “Don’t Stare; I am me!”
I couldn’t be more visible
I couldn’t be more significant
I couldn’t be less invisible
I couldn’t be less insignificant.
I admired her parents,
their love and patience
I paid the bill and handed
the badge to The World’s Best Dad.
The Price Of Love
I don’t believe you knew
how to love
It’s not that you lack the
capability
It’s just that you don’t
have the ability
Objects and possessions
count the most in your book
You cover your shell to
adorn the world
With trappings of fashion
and beauty
But the core remains empty,
cold and ugly
A bitter, shallow, hollow
soul.
A loveless childhood,
starved of all affection
You never got the present
you wanted at Christmas
You never knew if Christmas
would ever come
So how did you evolve; how
did you compensate?
By a compulsive
displacement
By substituting your
depravation for extravagance
You equate love with money.
You said you loved me
But it was not a love I recognised.
For me, to give time was so
important
Moments of intimacy,
sharing, caring, talking
Nurturing, loving
But for you, you couldn’t
do it
At least whilst the shops
were open.
You know the price of
everything
But not the worth.
Love is silent, invisible
It has no price tag
attached.
Where You Are At
You are what you are, and it’s about time you realised it.
Circumstances,
fate, etc, have put you in the position you are in now, and you may well want
to blame everyone (someone); governments, parents, lovers, neighbours, and I
can understand that. But you must move on. Have hatred, yes. A desire
for revenge, yes. But self-pity, loathing, a feeling of worthlessness has to be
consigned to the past.
Deal
with the situation: what has happened has happened. It is history. We learn
from history. Seeking reason or understanding an event is both worthless and
time consuming. You cannot waste time. Most understanding is not apparent
until the bigger picture becomes clearer and that, unfortunately, may take some
time.
Be arrogant, not ignorant. You are better than them. Those that may
appear to dislike you, those that may want to harm you are not as good as you.
They have their own inadequacies and their own fucked-up lives. Get to know
your enemy. Your own insecurities may be a lot less than theirs.
False statement number one: Talk costs lives. Nobody has ever died because of words. People may
talk about you (gossip, slander, rumour, name-calling), but this is just the
way the ignorant pass the time, deflect attention from themselves. Do you
really think that such people know more than you? These people are weak-willed,
living, poor shallow lives. Who is better? What is best? To be a sheep and
follow the herd? Or to be special? I damn well know. I’d rather stand out a
mile than be associated with that kind of mentality. I’d rather be on the
outside looking in than be in a room with their sort.
Once you know where you are at, and defined your own agenda, your own
ground, your own space. Clear your mind; consign the past to the past. The
future is unwritten. Write it your way. It is your life – don’t be told any
different. Tomorrow the paper is blank, and as much as we may live in a shitty
world, there is beauty out there; beauty and wonder. Tomorrow the adventure
begins –go in search of adventure, find that beauty, find the wonder and gain
the knowledge that you didn’t have today. Learn something new each day. Keep
evolving, don’t stagnate. What did you learn today?
Accept what is done, is done. But never forget. Confront your fears.
Remember them, never let them diminish, learn from them. Get stronger. Be
better, be a better person for it all.
You want revenge? The best revenge is to outlive your detractors. If
you give in, then they have won: your bosses, your parents, an –ex, - out live
them, be smarter: out learn them.
You will go forward, leaving them far behind, covered in the dust as you scream off into the glorious sunset of future’s tomorrow.
Remember you are special.
Brain Drain
Rumour has it that there is
a surgeon in America, who for large sums of money will remove unwanted
memories. The operation which involves a small incision under the left ear, from
whence a small tube is placed into the brain and the selected memories are
quite literally, sucked out.
The surgeon’s clients are
said to be extremely happy with the results and are said it feels like a great
weight has been lifted from their minds. Most of the his patients are said to
be middle-aged women, who seek the removal of the presence of “matters of the
heart” that have been allowed to linger and fester. However an increasing
number of younger women, teenagers and even some men have undergone the
procedure.
The exact size of the
memories excised appear to vary from person to person, ranging from the size of
a small walnut up to that of a large grapefruit. None so far have proved to be
malignant.
The surgeon is reported to
have kept the offending memories in jars that line the walls of his office.
People who have witnessed these strange exhibits say that there is not much to it and there is nothing
spectacular to be seen.
A spokesperson for the US Medical
Ethics committee said that they would be looking into it.
Visualise
Visualise, just close your
eyes
Visualise, you know you can
do it
Just close your eyes
Imagine it’s all before you
You see the glory
You know the route
The road that leads on
Visualise to hold the dream
Visualise to turn the dream
to reality
Dare to loose to win
Never give in.
Asylum
Swallowed the tale and took
the story
Believed in a land of hope
and glory
We seek refuge; sanctuary,
asylum
A safe house to escape
persecution
We are the refugees in a
lorry park
We are the immigrants on
the train track
In floodlights, barbed wire
and guards guard the borders
Got to run the risk
Got to try the best
To get a better life
Take me to the land of the
free
Take me to the mother of
the free
Of monarchy, god, kings and
heroes
Red buses and civilisation
A country cosmopolitan
British tolerance of skin,
language, religion
A picture postcard view
Not quite true.
All the beefeaters have
gone vegetarian
They salute another Jubilee,
Seig Hiel the BNP
Burnt out cars stand from
the previous night’s riots
An Us and Them situation,
black and white confrontation
Where only giant pub
screens unite the nation
Beaming live football from
Tokyo
To the curry house in
Chinatown
From Bollywood to the
central mosque.
It was the blackman in
Brixton in 1981
Now it’s Asian youth on the
frontline twenty years on
I came here to escape
persecution
I didn’t come here to be
killed
Why die in a country that
hates me so much?
Why die in a place I don’t
belong?
At least if I’d stayed my
blood would have been spilled
On soil that meant
something to me.
Immigrants flee along a
train track, fleeing home.
The Body Of A Woman
If I could paint a picture
I’d paint a picture of the
body of a woman
She would be in bed
Covered in the half light
of early dawn
Back turned; grey, blue,
black and white
Curtains billow in the
breeze from an open window
The room is chilled
The colours show no warmth
Darkness hides the age of
skin
Is she young or old?
There are no clues in this
light
All still, captured on
canvas
Preserved and frozen there
is no movement
No rise and fall of chest
No telltale, giveaway
signs, signs of life
Eyes closed
In sleep or death
Is she alive?
Smothered or dreaming
And in the background a
blended shape
A figure. Coming or going?
Discovering or fleeing?
A lover or stranger?
Is he there to save her?
Are his intentions good?
Were they bad?
Lots of questions, lots of
issues
Yet again it’s down to
individual interpretation
If I could paint a picture
But I can’t
The crayon has snapped.
Ifs, Buts and Maybes
There is a theory that
states that if a butterfly farts in South East Asia that it can cause a typhoon
of the Florida coastline. It’s all a case of cause and effect. Everything has
an effect, no matter how small.
Yesterday
Stopped to answer the phone
Needed to tie my shoelace
Went back to check that the
door was locked
Went back (again) to check
the oven was off
Car didn’t start first time
Traffic lights on red
Tractor pulled out in front
of the car in front
Decided to let a car out
(two others also jumped in)
Got held up by a car crash
at the roundabout
Ended up fifteen minutes
late for work.
Today
The phone didn’t ring
Laces all tied securely
I knew the door was locked
I didn’t need to check the
oven
Car started first time
Traffic lights on green
No tractors on the road
today
Didn’t let anyone out in
front of me
Ended up fifteen minutes
early for work.
Ifs buts and maybes
If I’d been in that place
I’d never have seen her
face
But if I hadn’t I wouldn’t
And maybe it would have
been different
Or the same.
Right place wrong time
Right place right time
Wrong place wrong time
Or a stationary traffic
line.
Interconnected on a line
bisected by fate
Or the lateness of a train
Distracted, hesitated to
wait
For the signal to go
Onto destiny or luck
To glory or despair
Who will ever know (or
care)?
Events, strangers lives
Cross interwoven
Over the pattern of life
Entwine unwittingly
To conspire in events
beyond our control
To meet life or death
Or love or just miss
A near miss, a close escape
A case or ifs, buts and
maybes.
Tomorrow
The will phone ring but I
won’t answer it
My laces will be tied
tightly
I will go back and check
the oven is off
But I shall be sure that
the door is locked
The car will start third
time
The traffic lights will be
on red
But again no farm vehicles
on the roads
I will not let anyone in
front of me
But a car will try and pull
out
And…
If I had, but I didn’t and
maybe if
If I had stopped, looked
and thought
The end results the same
The clock is still ticking,
The heart is still beating,
but if, maybe….
Time goes by. Time stands
still.
The Same Language
Lazy in our attitude to foreign
languages
Don’t see it as a necessity
Taught English is the
universal language
Abroad, relief when the stranger
speaks English
He’s my friend, not a
savage
He’s my contact in this uncivilised
place
He knows Manchester United
and Tony Blair.
In a medina in Tunisia
Looking to get back to the
hotel
Blank faced locals stood
and stared
Stranger looking-on offers
to guide me back
For a price
Took me deeper through
twisting streets
Then demanded all my money.
In Aussie outback or
African jungle
Which to you is the safer?
The guy from Adelaide
offers a beer and a joke
Hides his murderous intent
The Kenyan tribesman
carries a spear
Looks intense, but wants to
share food
Who do you trust?
We trust because of a
common bond
A shared mother-tongue
But the whiteman speaks
with forked tongue.
We align ourselves to the
United States of English speaking countries
We feed ourselves on a diet
of hamburgers, fizzy drinks, tv comedies and blockbuster movies
We blindly follow America because
we understand what they are saying
It has to be the truth
Doesn’t it?
Just because the language
is shared
Doesn’t mean you can’t be
tricked or robbed
Just because we understand
each other
Doesn’t mean you will not
try to kill me
America are you listening?
We are not your puppets
We will not blindly follow.