Hot, is October
It is early, but the petrol station is open
and since it is already hot, I buy two big bottles of cold water.
The heat, this morning is ominous holds no promise
of summer and fun, more like the door of hell has been left open, I hear the screams of those who are burning forever (one would think the body would be impervious to pain when burning forever)
I don´t want to go in yet sit on a cold stone bench drink water and dream of swimming naked in the lake of love.
Of course, the lake has gone as has its tributary, the river running from the hazy mountain.
Suddenly it hits me over the head, the voice which says,
you are 85, how the hell did you manage this?
I don't, nothing, I did.
The news is not helpful either, saying the heatwave and only the English go out in the midday sun (Noel Coward)
I drink some cold water pretend it is from a spring concealed in my imagination, of an oasis and palm trees I think would it not be good if I invented a pill that made me younger and younger till I disappeared unborn.
Sometimes he writes to her
upon a white paper moon.
The ink of his thoughts
dries to invisibility
as he folds the love-letter
into an origami model
of a flightless bird,
a creature now extinct.
He imagines her putting on her face,
dressing up
getting ready to take a taxi
to his Bayswater, London apartment.
At such times
he waits like Noel Coward
for his China dream girl
in some long forgotten play.
He picks up
a cut glass whiskey decanter
swirls the last inch of Irish around
smiles as she appears once more
at his door.
Fidgety Cats And Feline Pets
(A Parody)
Fidgety cats and feline pets go out for a midnight run,
Siamese are to rare to ever dare to
And in Bali and Mali cats retire from dawn till one.
Persian Blues prefer to choose to snooze in the noon day sun
And there’s a rumour the Puma will sleep when the day is done.
Fidgety cats and feline pets go out for a midnight run.
The Ocelot, cares not a jot for the heat of the noon-day sun
And the Bengal rarely sleeps at all.
At mid-day in Mandalay the Tiger will hunt for fun,
But fidgety cats and feline pets go out for a midnight run.
The Lion’s roar is no more when the clock strikes one
And you will never meet a Cheetah after the setting sun.
The Maine Coone will bathe at noon and the
Burmese is quite at ease in the rays of the Asian sun,
But fidgety cats and feline pets go out for a midnight run.
Adapted from ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ by Sir Noel Coward.
Barry Stebbings
07/03/18