What Was In The Sky?

i

I put on Vangelis' ALBEDO 0.39
so into those albums from that time
but it's August and my room
catches the afternoon sun
have to have the windows open
or I'll suffocate
and Freefall, Mare Tranquilitatis, Sword of Orion
those gentle passages
get eaten up in the traffic noise
I get more and more wound up
turning up the sound
worrying what they'll think downstairs
Mum and Dad
about my weird music

and then SJ comes up
and I forget all about it

I hear her coming up weary
from her day out with Gretchen and Lois
and I take one look at her and say where is her hat
she is burned to shit
and I can't remember now
what she said had happened to the hat
the back seat she left it on or
the changing room of this or that shop
the wind in the park or the tube that took it
from her head faster than she could run
but I know I put her in a cool bath
covered her in thick lotion smelling of coconut
put her big naked body in my bed
and made her ham and mustard sandwiches
for a late supper
and I think there was cloudy lemonade in cans, yes
we had cloudy lemonade in cans

we are into morning sex
but we do it late that night
all that bathing and all the lotion
the hands-on
and we do with me on the bottom
because of her raw back

ii

She puts away my vinyl
reads off the sleeve
reads, Stereo records give full stereo reproduction
     when played on a stereo record player
     They can be played on most modern mono record players
     fitted with a lightweight tone arm and pick-up head
     and the sound reproduction will be monaural
     If you have doubts and wish to avoid
     damaging your equipment
     or records consult your dealer
she says it again, Consult your dealer

iii

In my dream there is shouting
and I wake up and there is still shouting
someone outside on the street
shouting
and I get up and go to the window
and I look out
and the owner of the voice is down there
weaving about with a can in his hand
weaving about and looking at the sky
and shouting at the sky, too
shouting, I'm not afraid!
     I'm not afraid of you!
     I'm not fucking afraid of you!
     I am not fucking afraid of you!
     You think I'm afraid of you?
     I am not fucking afraid of you!
I look up into the sky
but there is too much orange light to see anything much
and I want to close the window
but we will suffocate in there

iv

In the morning I am cold
where SJ isn't pressed up against me
I see her sunburn
and I remember the shouting
but I don't tell her about it
because she'd kill me
because there was something in the sky
and I left the window open

another adventure

she grabs
my arm, shouts
come on!

Dust For Bones

got bitten
by a werehoover
in the lane
late
last week

blew my nose
got dried peas
glitter
Lego Obi-Wan's head

been looking everywhere for that

the curse is progressing
my bones
are turning to dust
one more loud noise
one more pot hole
on the way to work
and I'll desiccate

still
a saving on the cremation