Should Have Taken
‘Stay down! Stay down!’
they screamed
and it was advice I should
have taken:
I got to my feet and was
knocked back on my ass
with a busted nose: I
stayed down and was
helped to my feet,
someone gave me a
handkerchief to soak
up the blood:
the crowd dispersed,
the show was over,
I went back into the
bar: the guy who had
just beaten me,
nodded at a double
brandy upon the table
he was sat at: I lifted
the glass and drained
in one, speckles of
liquid red trickling
down the insides of
the glass from my nose.
The Rescue
She came onto me like
something possessed,
started to tell me how’d
she’d felt about me for
some-time, she was
slobbering drunk,
slurring, swaying,
sexy:
beyond her, I saw my
wife approaching:
‘You’d better go now’
I said
‘That’s right, you
better fuck-off now!’
my wife said,
stepping in front
of me, going toe
to toe with the
admirer, who
turned and staggered
away:
‘One of your old
whores?’ my wife
asked:
‘Probably’ I said.
Waking Up One Time
After waking up from a four
day binge of alcohol, hash,
pills, I found myself lying
next to a woman I didn’t
love, though she said that
she loved me,
the woman I loved had
marched out of my world:
beside the bed, the floor
was cluttered with empty
wine bottles, over-flowing
ashtrays, take-out- food
cartons, plates of
rotting food and the
interest of a large number
of flies:
I got up, vomited, smoked
a joint and phoned the
woman I loved and told
her what a pathetic
sorry-ass loser I was and
asked for her
forgiveness and that I
loved her and wanted to
be with her:
‘That’s nice to hear but
don’t ever fucking call me
again’ she said terminating
the call:
I opened a beer, it wasn’t’
going to help but I
couldn’t think of anything
else to do:
I looked out across the
park, I drank from the
bottle waiting for the
woman I didn’t love to
wake up so I could tell
her that I didn’t love her
and that she should
leave:
the day wasn’t looking
good and when I looked
into a mirror, I saw that
neither was I,
I drank the beer,
opened another
and waited.
The Long Slug
His relief and excitement were
one, as he embraced me,
urging me to sit back down in
the public bus shelter after I
had provoked and challenged
the asshole who thought he
was a tough guy and would
have for sure beaten my ass:
I sat down, relaxed and
relieved:
the tough guy looked over
at me looking tough and I
couldn’t resist and winked
at him: he began
laughing and shaking his
head, he took a long slug
from the bottle and then
made a show of offering
it to me as the other bums
looked on at the young
new-comer treading on
their toes and drinking
their share.
No Fucking
He followed me into the urinals
and stood behind me as I pissed:
‘I hear you think you’re a
tough guy’ he said
‘Maybe you’ve heard wrong’
I said finishing up and
walking over to the wash
basins:
‘Just don’t fuck with me’ he
Said:
‘I’m not going to fuck with you,
but maybe, your girl’ I told him:
‘Maybe you’ll try’ he said
‘Yeah, I might do’ I said
‘Maybe I’ll fuck with your girl’
he said:
‘Okay, let’s not do any fucking
tonight’ I suggested:
he nodded,
‘No fucking’ he said
‘No fucking’ I said.
