Shoes shined
Suit sharp
Shirt white?
Beard short
Breath fresh
Hair trimmed
Nervous sweat
Handshake firm
Remember names.

Three minutes is..
..all you’ve got
To win or lose..
..that new job.

1 simple set of instructions
4 heavy flatpack boxes
5 square aluminium legs
27 painted pieces of wood
100 ridged wooden dowels
101 white plastic ***** covers
102 blister-causing screws of various sizes.


Assumption that no unter or ober
Equals drunken waves of shelves
Sadly means finished is unfinished
Reworked masterpiece complete at last
Male ego boosted by admiring plaudits
Value enhanced by effort expended
Flatpack frustration in 4 easy pieces.

Your old blindness
Now crystal clear
The world around
Now light bright.

It’s not just vanity
Friends assure you
And you look great
Did you get face lift?

No just new glasses!

It’s over 50 years since the day the music died
The Winter Dance Party tour ended for some
On that cold winter’s night at Clear Lake Iowa.
It was Buddy, Richie, Jiles and Roger who died
But the party went on for Waylon and Tommy.
Bus or plane was a flip of a coin or a fever too hot -
How did they feel, did it change their lives for ever?

Adrenaline invincible speed empty road 3am,
Invisible tree stops speed & time forever.
Loved one’s anguish howl from 5am knock,
“Your baby died in a wreck on the highway”,
His 30 seconds of fame on the 8am news.
Life must go on for those not forever young,
Empty chair, empty life and broken hearts,
Missing him every second now forever old,
Anger at the waste of young life cut short.

A spiral galaxy of cream in my coffee dream
The dark caffeine universe my sunrise today
A bridge between waking and sleeping again
And the morning paper’s sadistic nightmare fun.

A milky way of latte mixes with banking binge
The espresso speed of the incredulous ****-up
Front-page stupefied, newly poor church-mice
Await another failed pension rescue bid today.

A drip, drip, drip of freshly brewed Colombian
Aroma comfort a promise for work-less workers
Catastrophe curious seriously seeking employ
Vladimirs and Estragons still waiting for Godot.

When I close my eyes and listen to
The thlunk of the fridge door,
The burble of water boiled,
The clink of a cup stirred,
The rasp of knife on toast,
The crispness of bacon frying,
The sweetness of butter melting,
The tartness of orange squeezed,
The closeness of breakfast for two,
The rustle of night-time silk,
I am where I love to be,
Close to you.