My wife's 50th Birthday
We're drinking cocktails
Vermouth, Bols blue
Amaretto and lemonade.
There is a name​ for it, but
I don't know what it is
And I really  don't care

So we're drinking
Smoking cigarettes
And wondering about time.
Wow! I can't believe that
Karen is fifty, and how is it
That I can be forty - five.

It's so ******* weird
Growing older, I don't really
Feel any different from when
I was 25
A little more tired, a little more
Cynical
But basically still me
Effectively still a child

I always just assumed
That once you hit 35
You'd feel automatically
Grown Up, and know
How to survive
Not only that but
How to thrive
A professional career
And a beautiful wife

Just like the lives you see on T.V.
I expected someone to do that for me
My own stupid naivety

But no, I've got to take​ control
Of my own stupid life
I don't​ know if I can do it
I think it sounds​ difficult
Too much to take at one time.

Walking in the cold, damp weather
Feeling 1/2 a bottle of whiskey better
Than I did an hour before
When it was already dark at Four

In these times, we need some help
To sometimes get out of ourselves
But I know only too well in an hour or two
The buzz will be gone, and here comes the blues

I love these visits from Gentleman Jack
But I hate it when he has to go back
Back to Kentucky, in the U.S.A.
Leaving me hungover and alone again

My partner has just bought a car
Now we can travel near and far
Does it make me feel like less of a man
And like she's got the upper hand ?
Now she's literally in the driver's seat
She's got the wheels, I've just got feet

Drinking again
At 12 'O' Clock
The hangover too much to bear
And it's like a bear
Clawing at my skull
Crunching my nerve ends
So to the shop I go
Two hours later
Feeling better
Smoking a cigarette
That doesn't make me gag
Actually enjoying every drag
As the martini goes down
Of course
Sooner or later
It will all catch up with me
And the sickness will return
But until then
I am feeling fine
Feeling better
One drink
At a time

Hungover today
Last night had too much whiskey
Leave it for a bit

Come on, let me take you down
Where there are bouquets piled all around
An old oak tree trunk, thick and round

The Hanging Tree

Tributes and teddies all around
No-one knows what brought this down
Hanging two feet off the ground

The Hanging Tree

Fifty-four long years old
His body hung there, stiff and cold
There's a story here that needs to be told

The Hanging Tree

A two-line newspaper obituary
That most people just don't see
A tragic end for anybody

The Hanging Tree

A spring morning, crisp and clear
The neighbours garden was so near
No-one knows what happened here

The Hanging Tree

A meaningless death in a small town
Some poor ******* had to cut him down
Fate looks on, wearing a frown

The Hanging Tree

Yes, fate looked on wearing a frown
Mental Health Services let him down
Just a small story in a small town

The Hanging Tree

What was I supposed to say ?
What was I supposed to do ?
I just went out for a walk today
And then I bumped into you

At first I didn't recognise
Behind the clothes, and that hair-do
But when I saw those deep brown eyes
I suddenly realised it​ was you

We awkwardly talked of this and that
The dogs that we both were walking
Not even " How are you ", no normal chat
We really didn't want to be talking

There's too much that's happened, much too much
For us to try to just pass the time
I found it hard to look at, never mind touch
What I used to be  proud to call mine

I miss my grandparents, they lived life their way
They wouldn't even understand life today
They would never accept benefits
Even if they were owed it
They were strong and stoic, they lived through Hell
And came out the other side doing well
The great depression, two World Wars
They lived through it, they lived through more
My grandfather was a wild one in his youth
I loved him for it, and that's the truth
The best people I've ever known
I hope that they are in Heaven, on their thrones
There's no poverty​, no rationing there
No depression in Heaven, they haven't​ a care
Enjoying each other, now the hard times are done
Dancing together, and having​ fun
Yes, I miss my grandparents and their way
They just wouldn't understand life today
They were too level-headed for the way things are now​
They would think that the World had gone crazy somehow
No, I'm not sure, but I think they would be right
They would not understand it, so let them sleep tight

Off - white walls full of leaflets and pamphlets​
The bolted - down hard wooden chairs
To get through the glass door we need a code and an escort
A Nurse to take us from here to there

On both sides of the glass professionals​ are working
This side you sense a struggle; where to score, where to rob
On the other side they're more confident, joking and flirting
Resigned to making the best of their job

Although none are present, drugs can be felt in air
Like after an all-night binge you can smell drink in a room
Our clothes old and scruffy, in the eyes a vacant stare
As we wait for prescriptions​ in the self-inflicted gloom

Every few minutes a name is called, someone rises
They return with a slip of blue paper that's worth a fortune
It's another week of no pain, no surprises
This place we may hate it, but we'll be back soon

Detritus of the drunken night
A cig burn in a cushion cover
A swollen face from your brother
I shouldn't have had that last pint
Your wittering is irritating
This hangover is dehydrating

Blurred thoughts of how we fought
You brought up some other girl
Indignation  made my head whirl
T.V. blaring sports, you out of sorts
Outside for a cigarette
Both of us shouting, your eyes wet

The stumbling, bumbling long walk home
Sniping and bickering
Neon lights flickering
Now your face is set like stone
I've got to face your angry brother
And your unforgiving mother

Detritus of the drunken night
My stomach's churning
Your eyes are burning
Like red hot coals, they sting on sight
I'll apologize for what drink's done
Then go down the pub for another one

Come take a walk with me downtown
Where the ancient spirits may be found
The dull thump of techno is not the sound
That assaults your senses, now
It's the baying hounds

Suddenly you're enveloped in a must
Although you're not drinking you feel quite ******
You've never known a feeling like this
No all the times on acid and mushrooms you've tripped

This must be the wrong alley, you've turned in
It's​ like a tiny hurricane in which you spin
The lights blur, your stomach churns
You have definitely taken a wrong turn

It must be the 19th Century in which you're found
The way the men's coattails skirt the ground
You want to scream, you can't make a sound
People walk right through you, like there's no one around

All of the shops have shrunk in size
Changed from concrete to marble before your eyes
The windows are smaller, tiny panes of glass
As through the mud and ****, you wander past

The black horses stomp, their breath it steams
The silver on their bridles gleams
Sewage runs through the gutters like a stream
Stuck in a 19th Century nightmare dream

The words in the drunken shouts  don't really differ
But the accent's changed, grown coarser, thicker
. It's gaslight, not neon now that flickers
But you could probably get a decent pint of bitter

The working girls are still around
They look even dirtier, more​ worn down
Money for Gin, not crack must now be found
But still the sordid beat they pound

Suddenly, the mist it clears
The smell of horseshit disappears
You were there for a minute, now you're back here
Now you slowly walk back home, shaking with fear

A Thursday night full of enchantment
Just me and my girl
Yes, we've taken some relaxation enhancements
And all's right with the world

For once it's been a pretty good day
Nothing has gone awry
We sit chilled out, no harsh words to say
And for now, it's not a bad life

An atmosphere of sheer contentment
As we both sit here relaxed
No niggling worries, no resentment
And we're chilled to be max

It's cool to have a rare good night
No hassles and no sorrows
Let's hope that this feeling might
Last until tomorrow

I'm glad I'm not that guy anymore
I'm glad that I've rejected
The guy who thought that fun
Could only be inhaled or injected
I'm glad that now I'm
The kind of guy
Who can be respected

My wife's mother has just passed away
I don't know what I'm supposed to say
I understand that she's feeling sad
But everything I say just drives her mad

Treading on eggshells, trying to empathise
The more I say, the more I realise
That I just don't have a clue
I've got no idea what to do

I have no idea what to say
To try to take her pain away
It's like stumbling blindfold through a minefield
The explosions coming from what she feels

I'm trying my best to be a good man
Simply doing the best I can
For I know the time will surely come
That she'll help me when it is my mum

I have started to wake in the middle of the night,
Not knowing the time, in the dark I can't see.
I lie there in the gathering half-light
Reviewing my life and it's inadequacies

Torturing myself, tying my mind up in knots,
Thinking of the problems I've caused for myself.
Agonising over each, and there have been lots
Exercising my poor mental health

As the light grows at the edge of the curtains
And outside in the world, the day it starts
I finish my examinations​, and I am certain
That in every failure, I played the main part

As I hear the neighbour's cars take them away
To work. My mind with nothing learned
Forgets it all for the rest of the day
As my tiredness suddenly returns

The day it passes, my mind is okay
No problems at all, everything is alright
I get ready for bed at the end of the day
Then wake up again in the dead of the night.

I see the white bone shining
The cold, lipless grin
Ghostly sparkling in
The empty sockets
Where the eyes should have been

My bowels turn to water
My whole body shakes
A deep, bone - scraping sound
That is supposed to be a voice
Scratches out a painful sound
I think it is my name
I know it is my name

I try my best to ignore it
It takes all of my strength
But I find that I am powerless
I think it is my name
I know it is my name

That the skeleton skull
Repeats, repeats, repeats again
I have got to pay a price
For my dissolute past
And I bow my head in shame

OK, so I guess that I'm a poet
I'm told that it gives me responsibilities
I don't even want to know it
The only person I write with in mind is me
People should just look out for themselves
No! That makes me sound like a Tory
I'm a Socialist, that's important to me

But, art is different, it's not life
I could never write for someone else
I've only got time for my own struggles and strife
If you want to, pick someone​ else off the shelf

I feel that I have to say something
And say it clearly
Because it is so
Easy to forget
In these busy
And stressful times

And we all see​
The distressing
Adverts on T.V.
About
Starving children
Covered in flies
Who will die today
If they don't receive
Some help
Any help at all
The swollen bellies
The crying eyes
Covered with diseased​ flies
And their crying
Families that watch
Them for the
Slightest chance
That
Someone
Somewhere
Will
Care......
And  we ask
Ourselves
How has it
Come to this ?



Yet you keep voting Republican or Conservative
And​ the wheat and barley and butter mountains
Grow higher
And higher
Until they're pushed
Into the fire
Because your policy is
To throw it all away
If it doesn't make
A profit in some way

You would rather see
These strangers die
After all, they're not
Like you and I

Capitalism does not allow
People to make gifts anyhow
Everyone must pay their way
Even if they have nothing with which to pay
I don't believe in
GodBut I pray
  Global Revolution
Will come about someday

Aft all is that not what the Bible says
The rich will perish, the poor will take their place
I know I will not be around to see
But I will rest in my grave happy

Home made meals lovers
Share on tender winter nights
Replenish the soul

So, c'mon let's talk about politics
Come on, let's discuss war
I'll tell you all of my opinions
Then we'll talk about yours

Let's get into religion
Have a massive argument
In the morning when we're hungover
We won't remember what we meant​

I know that it's our first date
But let's break all the rules
Find out if it's love or hate
Is it **** or is it cool ?

Let's stumble off to bed
Have terrible drunken ***
Then in the morning, with thick heads
We'll work out where we go next

Let's jump in to it with both feet
If it goes wrong, it goes wrong
If it's meant to, it will be weak
If it's meant to, it will be strong

Yes, let's forget all the rules of a first date
It's going to be right, or it's going to be wrong
It will be love, or it will be hate
Let's start as we mean to go on

The swings and slides are empty
As the rain it falls
The children are watching T.V.
As the night begins to call

To the older, teenage kids
With bottles in their hands
To the park, the slides on which they slid
Holding on to their parent's hands

Obnoxious, arrogant and loud
With a drink or two inside
Stood next to where their parents proud
Watched them down the slide

How long has this park been here?
I used to come with my mum and dad
Filled with excitement and fear
At all of the fun to be had

I wonder how many generations
It will be that this park will​ last
And in silent contemplation
Will see present turn once more to past

I've spent nearly all my adult years
In awful occupations​
Hundreds of jobs, hundreds of tears
Years of sheer frustration
Terrible employment
Cooking sausages, bagging salt
Absolutely no enjoyment
But it wasn't always my fault
Leaving school with no qualifications​
No career to look forward to
You have to take any occupation
What else can you do?
Miserable jobs, minimum wage
Always the first to be ' let go '
Working all night, sleeping all day
But nowhere else to go
Throwing heavy boxes about
Loading massive lorries
On the bottom rung and no way out
I've worked in so many factories
Now I have tried to educate myself
Qualifications of which I'm proud
Training for a job in Mental Health
Yes, that's my way out
And for about 2 1/2 years
I've been working voluntarily
Helping people with their troubles and fears
Now I have found the right job for me
Now I have found the thing I want to do
I have found my real career
It helps me to be be helping you
And I will always be here

When we're lying in your bed
In the dark carnal midnight
I might say that I love you
But in the cold light of morning
When we look at each other
We both know there's nothing
Further from the truth

I know you don't love me
But you could put up with me
At least then your child gets a daddy
I know I don't love you
I don't know why I pretend to
It just seems the polite thing to do

We're not getting any younger
And being alone seems so frightening
So we live this lie and hate each other
More with each day
There's no love, there's no passion
We don't even care about the ***
But we know it's the last chance we might get

Corn dogs, burgers, American trash
Chrome, neon lights and huge panes of glass
But they taste amazing, so what can I say ?
American imperialism has once again got its way