Geoffrey Ward

NEW TOWN!   FRESH START!

Insulted by firemen, the last class on earth in
receipt of a total respect you thought will you now
give up the photo of P. with his hand in the till where
his daughter the edible seamstress play Coming Apart,
steeped in gentle radiance of departure like
the bird-men who start all these fires to begin with.
Push it in: daughters' graves call to your blackmailing
soil at the minimum depth for old coins.
Get it straight: no time for whimsy in a vice of sparks;
undo the zip in the sky she will grind you new
face by the lights of what he knows already,
one teaspoonful in half a glass of water.
Dodgy on Ritalin, worse on reflection, equipped
with a capacity for pleasure the
equipment fails to honour, landslides in part will
have covered the side of his jeans. Hand him
certificate X shares least said soonest scented,
the optimum height above water for flying in dreams.

"Don't wanna lie down in no bed full of light."
"Well inflicting small bites on each other's
wrists doesn't seem to help." Shot down in the night.

We had to break her leg to set it straight.
On or of earth at full throttle I
haven't The Patience: or what you will, any more:
may Moses descend in a plague of Swarfega and
do you all backwards and sideways or
failing that love burn the doors through to RAF Tadcaster
integral sparking right our in the palace of flies.
Each day is the same each day dies.

Copyright Geoffrey Ward 1980

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also by Geoff Ward: Worry Dream; More Pincushion Murders