What Is It?
It was hard to guess
how
old he was, he
looked
ancient and he
shuffled
to the counter
clutching
a £5:00
note:
How can I help
you?
the cashier asked and
the
question seemed to
fuck-
him-up, he
couldnt
remember what he
was
wanting at the
store:
Cigarettes?
tobacco?
the cashier asked:
he shook his head,
frowning, trying
to
think what he
wanted:
A lotto ticket?
stamps?
scratch cards?
the
cashier enquired: the
old man shook his
head;
a few people were
getting
pissed-off,
cursing the old guy
beneath their breath; a
few others in the
queue
shouted out TV
guide?
pipe tobacco?
vapours?
matches?; again
he
shook his head and
looked confused
and
puzzled:
I stepped up, A
pack
of rubbers I
suggested:
he shook his head
and
laughed a
toothless
laugh and then
said,
Ive got a couple
of
packets left over from
the 1970s in
the
bedroom cabinet but
Im
buggered if I can think
of
why Im
here
Good luck I told
him
I cant remember
the last
time I had some of
that
he said.
1st Time Gloves
On
When the punches
start
coming back at you is
when
the trouble starts and
thats
why your first,
initial
punches should be
clean
and vicious and
hateful
but controlled,
keep
your temper: from the
sound of the bell,
its
life or death, think of
it
no other way, your
first
punches should be
your
best and the
last
I nodded my head
knowing that I was in
for a hiding as my
veteran, older
opponent
threw punches into
the
air, dancing like a
victorious
gladiator,
already tasting the
blood
and wanting more.
A Vasectomy And
Sibelius
Music is very important
at these
kind of times he said
And what
music is it that you
enjoy he
asked:
Classical music I
replied:
I was hoping you
were
going to say that he
said and
walked over to a C.D.
player
and pushed a button,
Sibelius
2nd symphony
filled the room:
he put on some rubber
gloves
and pulled up a
paper-face-
mask: 10 minutes and
itll
all be over, lay back and
relax
the surgeon advised and I
did:
a few hours later I had
sore
and swollen testicles the
size
of apples and for a few days
a
hard-on caused agony,
which
amused my wife who
cruelly
and playfully teased and
aroused me, enjoying
my
simultaneous agony
and
pleasure.
A Bright
Sunshine
I knew it was going
to
be the end of our
teenage romance
when
she said Im
pregnant:
gifted academically
and
musically, she was
17 years old
and just months
away
from university and
a
future: I was 18
and
becoming a
hopeless
drunk working in
illegal factories
with
no fucking
ambitions
but I sold what I
could to pay for
the
abortion and I
felt
shitty and useless
and
the clinic was cold
and
unfeeling and the
sad,
ashamed faces of
the
young women have
never left me and
I
recall looking out
of
a window into a
dull
and lifeless
car-park
that evaded even
the
brightest of
sunshine.
Over-Time
His uniform consisted
of
a pair of shorts,
sandals
and shades; hed walk
up
and down the
golden
golden sandy
beaches,
drinking a cold beer
and
smoking a
cigarette,
moving amongst
topless,
scantily clad
sunbathing
women and
frequently,
hed take money
from
these beautiful
semi-
naked girls for the
hire
of beach-chairs
and
sun-canopys:
Ive always
disliked
working and
have
truly hated each job
Ive
had, but this guy
had
things sussed; this
was
not hard work or
boring, this was
inspiring and
stimulating;
fuck, if I had his
job,
Id be putting-in
for
plenty of
over-time.