re:lode2
via Leopardi 19
to Egregio Sig. Simon Marsh


& once again
the tired suitcase
with the broken
spine is
folded back
into a kind of
empty whole
then filled &
bound & reassured
with string
apparently the world
keeps moving on
increasingly beyond
the scope of rope
or sensible reflection
it's amazing how
many decades
it can take
to empty out
even the smallest
cardboard box of
books & some days
it seems to take so long
to parallel park
your own body
to the rhythms
of what now passes
for the news
& our remembrances
of the new wave
in let's say Portuguese
is it soulful yearning
or just a misplaced &
almost archaeological
urge to return
to the suede-lined
lounges of the '70s
where very few of us
will ever dance again
the sudden rain-soaked
pavements of our
prospects certainly
reflect fewer stars
& lampposts
than they used to do
but there is still
the shop that
sells kebabs
& I need to talk about
the princess
& the current spell
so hold my beer
& in walks Bud





Cambridge, 1st February 2017