the old lady from hyde

There once was an old lady from Hyde
Who ate one hundred apples and died
Her husband invented
a machine to make apples fermented
to make a gallon of cider inside her inside.

the night circus lights the top of the trees and the darkening sky
and reaches out to hold your hand and take you to the funhouse
'we dreamt of this in our worst nightmares' pete said
and the fortune teller told him 'thats because we put it there'
her hand held out for an old five pound note

and around her wrist was
indecipherable script
we sat
on the damp seats of
the walzters
the ghost train
the funhouse

the gates

the wolves are at the gates again
grenoble is in flames
the children of the miners sing
until the tepid rain rains
ruby rings, cupid bows
rabbits tails pony shows
the wolves are at the gates again
grenoble is in flames

alright

It all seems so easy

It could be you

or him or

Her that stays, then

after a cigarette

there's sometimes a daydream,

a discordant fight scene where the girls crack open

bottle tops with their teeth

And rub lipstick on

each

other

with unwashed fingers and nobody gets the

time

To find

the one

too busy with the next one

or another and

after the long night is drawn out to morning we roll on slept in sheets

in and out of different beds

in a borrowed dress, well petey sleeps in his mums dress, I prefer a nice pair of slacks but sometimes

pete and sarah wait in each others arms for

A kiss

or an insult that not been thrown yet

I hear sirens

the women are kicking out car windows

And the men are jumpstarting cars

The striking resemblance to our grandfather fades and I ask you

‘take me to the graveyard

take me to see his grave’



sammys arguement with pete sounds bukowskiesque

down the red lion
sammy loses his rag and shouts

pete, I fucked your mrs and i'll fuck you too

petes eyes cried, he put his hands over his
face and just cried

sammy was wearing reebok classics and a faded le coq sportif t-shirt

I stood there and watched
them

idiots

i carried on playing pool i was winning and about to pot the black

when

pete threw a cue and it hit sammys head

i didnt get it , all we have is
each other.

I had a bottle of port at nanas

so i left.

apparently sammy never fucked petes mrs

but just said it to put him off the darts

they made up with jam sandwiches

the idiots

another morning

just another morning of coffees and burnt toast
or so i thought
of cracked pavements and upturned stones and the regret of not seeing them
another afternooon of wasted
words
and ques and missed appointments
i was taking charles to the dentist today
when he slipped and broke his arm
we waited
waited for the nurse
waited for charles' mum
waited for all the women to come and make it better

i am henry crayons

I am Henry Crayons
my old dear called me that
shes gone now rest her soul
followed her dream and watched it play out on a super 8
I am Henry Crayons
my old man dont call me that
hes in farnham now
followed a woman and watched the romance play out
after monday night quizzes inbetween midnight snatches
of afternoon delight his dreams fade onto the forgotten pebble shores
of a margate dawn
In the Gore, the tide runs till 12 o'clock
but flows upon the land at 11, swollen
eyes of the boys on a friday night
they come back for more The marks for anchoring in westgate bay are scratched driftwood onto the teenage skin of all of his sons