Wedding in Paris

Coming out of the church after the wedding
smiles and cameras clicked.
From the steps, I saw a ***** in the park looking for
something to eat
he found a half slice of a pizza.
With all the clatter going on, I slipped away
had a whisky in the nearby bar.
I saw the ***** coming out of the park my idea
was to give him money.
I was self-conscious, hated the thought
of looking patronizing, so I had another whisky
Before joining the wedding party.

Basket case

There is a smudge on my computer screen trying to clean it with spit,
but no, perhaps it is finger marks left behind by the strange people
Who sits in the back of the computer shop?
Their diet is cola and chocolate; they are thin, bald and weedy looking
I must whisper to them, or they shrink away.
They sulk if I disagree with their diagnosis, it will take time to get
my computer back.
When the owner closes the shop, they climb into toolboxes, the ones with
the helpful drawing of a screwdriver, maybe the smudge is a camera
watching me
when I have a drink tonight, I’ll pour it in the bedroom then go into
the bathroom and smoke a cigarette
buy a can of coke a bar of chocolate, eat and drink in front of the screen
and they will say, look, he is a basket-case like us.

From a Balcony in Paris

Fine rain
open umbrella
Sitting on the balcony
Of a hotel
Overlooking
Haussmann-Saint Lazare.
Throngs of people
Something has changed
People drink
Starbuck
Eat hamburgers
On the hoof.
Old restaurant closed
Converted
To fast-food joints.
I sigh
Drink from the bottle
Of Bordeaux
To avoid
Getting rainwater
In my wine.

The schooner

On the flatland between the vales, I could see the sea
I had walked uphill for a long time, after the downhill
and the way to the coast, it was easy, but it was
getting cold, I wore a light navy uniform (Furlough)
I saw a protest house of worship on its own no other
Houses nearby this place would do.
I fell asleep, awoke and heard ***** music, the church
full of matelotes singing psalms; the paster spoke
of redemption and the glory of God.
I saw a superb sunrise continued my walk to the coast.
In the morning an open café, I told the girl behind the
counter, where I had slept, she looked confused as far
as she knew the church had been torn down, it was
built of planks when of a schooner ran aground with
the loss of all hands.

Last dance

They had danced to the dunes of a juke-box
dawn, they were alone except for the barkeep
he was asleep, leaning his head on folded arms
on the mahogany counter.
Soon the sun will shine, followed by the day
and they had to face the dreaded future.
Both were married but not to each other  
was love strong enough to survive the day?
They didn’t know the answer.
Just one more dance.
Hell is tomorrow with heartache and loss.
My god, let this moment last forever.

The fall of the west

Easy, abortion worrying, call for an appointment at five.
A well-educated woman has a career to consider
this is her right to pursue her dream. (Work before pleasure.)
a mother is hard work and the pay is lousy
Birth rates in Europe are sinking, upsetting the balance of the future.
A less educated woman has to work also one pay packet is not thanks
to our capitalist system called hard graft
In Portugal, the birth rate is low from one generation to a distressing fall.
Old people die out there are not enough people to take up the slack,
which in the end ruin a country?
If an unmarried woman has 3 to 4 children, she is seen as a loose
Woman, we punish her and her children sending them into poverty
while we should applaud her for saving the future of Europa
What is needed is economic stimulus making motherhood well paid
a career to strive towards.

Storyteller

Now, as spring light fades into
a soft blue night, I turn to you and ask
Tell me more.
The river doesn’t run rapidly as before
The lake is dry
No wind blows away broken dreams.
Tell me more, if you can before, the light
Is an empty space
The stillness has lost its echo.