You are a study in

contradiction,

(Filofax looks and

roller coaster smile.)



You've patience short

as a fireman's hosepipe,

eyes that you

narrow like the Nile.



You walk like you're dancing

at the Pope's wedding;

talk like you haven't

got the time to stop.



You're always grinning

when it's raining

(down from the bottom

and up from the top).



You mock like a bat

but you're scared of darkness-

scared of losing

your own two feet.



Your misplaced faith

In your own self-loathing

lurks in the sun

taking pride in defeat.

Remember that look?
the one that said 'up yours'
and '*******'
I do.

I carry that look in a Filofax
in case of panic attacks,

in a mirror at home I look
again at the look
and remember what it took
to give it.

Nothing is thrown out or
given away
especially that look,
it might come in handy
one day.

Blunt

but no more axes to grind
I have what I need
and if I need
I will find.

heartbreaking really so
deal me a hand from the
Devil's pack
give me four aces
and let me move back
to a time before
when I could see.

What defines us is the minus
and we're on a sliding scale,
some will rise above it all
(Kilroy on the garden wall)
some will sink into oblivion
which leaves the rest to
carry on.

Mindlessly
we sit and stare
bearing in mind
we may not be there,
but someone is.

This is like a rummage sale
searching through
the baggage of the lost
upon the lonely trail and
when memories fail,
there's always
the 'filofax'
for when we have those
nineteen twenty one
attacks
yes
it's that old and you were
thinking
the eighties surely.

Whatever happened
to the Filofax, to
Max Headroom,
and the oil boom?

I must have have been asleep
because
they disappeared in the face of
technological advancement
leaving me with
outdated equipment,
electrical cars
and a yen for old comedy shows,

thankfully, though sleeping
I kept myself primed,
just need to catch up and
match all the pictures to the
words

jeez
it's like being five again in the
nursery
everyone watching me
doing it wrong, but
I'll get the hang of it
soon.