The Gleeman

There he was!
With a staff of soft toys found
With a drum as unstrung guitar
And bells at every beat
Defiantly merry he
Spat his improvised odes to Joy
In your face

I thought my old mate Keith was back
Back standing in a passage in Greenwich
Back from the brink of fabulousness
and alcohol-fueled foolery
But this 'David Joy' was a
Clean-channelling jester

Some in a party of lads
Scornful and mocking threw bottled water at him
Outraged, I was about to protest.
'Nah, Nah! He said
'It's about Joy.
They are just conventional'.

Now he chanted a song
About the conventional
Complimenting a beautiful girl here
Encouraging a smile there.

Some muttered 'Who is he?'
One, in a group or part of a pair
Gave conspiratorial glances
That shamed the others in,
Who momentarily paused to reach out
For escape,
And stamped joy out.

'You are how I feel inside!'
I said shaking at his exhilarating display of chaos and freedom.
(I played his African drum;
'it's gotta get to know you before it sings')

He invited me to
View Point, 'I'm having a Solstice Fire,
I camp up there, a secret spot
You can see the city'.
I know the spot, indeed beautiful.

'Arthur Pendragon knows me well
The power of Stonehenge has faded'
What energy in that little Scot's frame
Shaman Soul, Jester
Bard, Gleeman, Holy-Fool
Joy! Joy! Joy!

The Shanty of Buela and Buela

Come we go

My name is Buela

Come we go

I’m Buela too

Come we go

Then you are recruited

Pick up your face and your back

Who invited you?

Come we go

Up and down stairs

Come we go

Cross to a bar

Come we go

Beast and the beauty

Come we go

Hunch-back and the star

Come we go

You’re not getting in girls

Come we go

I warned you before

Come we go

I promise you later

My friend will reward you

Mister Man-at-the-Door

Come we go

Up and down stairs

Come we go

Buel', go to the bar

Come we go

Beast and the beauty

Come we go

Hunch-back and the star

Come we go

There’re too many people

Come we go

We don’t stand a chance

Come we go

Go mash up the fire alarm

Clear the whole club

So we can dance

Come we go

Out through the window

Come we go

Cross to a bar

Come we go

Beast and the beauty

Come we go

Hunch-back and the star

Come we go

I saw the man first

Come we go

Move out the way

Come we go

He says Listen up girls

If you both want me

You’ll both have to pay

Tsssssssssss!

Come we go

And mind we don’t tump you

Come we go

But we’re in a good mood

Come we go

And anyway Mister

We're not looking for snack

We’re looking for food

Come we go

Buela, I’m tired

Come we go

We’ve done half the town

Come we go

But Buela we’re traipsing

Pick yourself up

How dare you sit down

Come we go

Up and downstairs

Come we go

We cross to the bar

Come we go

Beast and the beauty

Come we go

Hunch-back and the star

Come we go

Somewhere we’re fighting

Come we go

I just couldn’t believe

Come we go

Everyone in that club

Made it quite plain

They would like us to leave

Come we go

Up and down stairs

Come we go

Cross to a bar

Come we go

Beast and the beauty

Come we go

Hunch-Back and the star

Come we go

Excuse me sister

Come we go

I just thought you should know

Come we go

Me just pass your friend

With a whole crowd around her

Fast asleep in the snow

Come we go

Buela I’m tired

Come we go

We’ve done the whole town

Come we go

But Buela we’re traipsing

What’s that stuck to your skirt?

How dare you lie down

Come we go

Up and down stairs

Come we go

Cross to a bar

Come we go

Beast and the beauty

Come we go

Hunch-Back and the star

Come we go

Somebody rank

Come we go,

It’s you.! Come off the floor!

Come we go

Whatever outside froze to our skirt

In the heat of this club

Is beginning to thaw

Come we go

Up and downstairs

Come we go

Cross to a bar

Come we go

Beast and the beauty

Come we go

Hunch-back and the star

Come we go

Somebody’s in there!

Come we go

Mash the lock on the loo !

Come we go,

Stop your noise! It’s your friend !

Look like she’s sleeping!

Covered in doo

Come we go

Buela I’m tired

Come we go

We’ve seen the whole town

Come we go

But Buela we’re traipsing

Clean yourself up

How dare you sit down

Come we go

Up and down stairs

Come we go

Hunch-back and the star

Come we go

Back from the toilet

Beast sees the beauty

Collapsed at the bar

Come we go

Buel’ find me a man

Come we go

Make sure he has wheels

Come we go

But Buela we’re traipsing

Pick yourself up

Now you know how it feels

Come we go

Up and down stairs

Come we go

Cross to a bar

Come we go

Beast and the beauty

Come we go

Hunch-back and the star.

Come we go

Somebody’s shooting

Come we go

Quick, that taxi there

Come we go

Move up and drive on!

Come we go

Said his friend with the shotgun

Jumping into the back seat

With bits of flaked ceiling in his finely locksed hair.

Completing The Circuit

Acropolis falling
There where you see
The sun crest on the hill...
Wavering horizon
That day in Helicon
Zeus appears to Ariadne and said
'Seek, that being unsure in faith
Faith you shall find.
Leave threads of kindness
The whereabouts of which
People treading will be reminded
Of kindness' gift
To lead toward the light.
Souls forever anguished
Never find the way
Yet oblivion has in itself
The hope of light within it
And it is hope's steady
Determination to emerge, -
Seek, seek, seek, -
That distinguishes the human condition
From those of fellow beasts'.

Fallen man fell on the day
Of his perception
Turning in, as one does,
Who, preoccupied with his own reflection
Seeks to build castles, to frame
His image... on water
A good photographer knows
The framing is the soul-light
And not the only picture
That can be made
Nor identified as man's endeavour.
Fallen angels find a way
To ascend in to the sky
Your own case; doubt.
Stilled fear, are those of Hemingway
Still you thought you'd lost
But having completed
The circuit
Left by the trails of crumbs,
The kindness left by Ariadne,
The circuit of the Stag!
I proclaim you man.

Deptford High Street 2017

Uppity people moving in
On areas formerly humble
Can't stand the arrogance,
Well, can you?
Rudimentary flavours are in...
Out, in, out,
We stop in the street and shout
"What's this all about!"
Are they taking over
A 'new breed' you say.
They had a DOG UNIT!
In Deptford, in front of the new Market Yard
Guarding a Craft Fair! Twice,
To keep the locals at bay.

Wearing those badass jeans
Jennifer supping tea
"It's not the South of
Bloody France you know"..


Standing by the fruit stall
"Antny!"
Gripped for a kiss,
Sisters , melons and babies,
Mangoes and nieces;
Next to the Latte Cafe/Van
The intellectuals
"The English are educated
Beyond their intelligence",
Said the examiner.
He looks like Alexis Sayle;
No chance of Baccalauriat now...


Here's Miss Thang!
What's she wearing today
She looks like she swam through a jumble sale
And a tiny plastic policeman's
helmit, lopsided on her...
Now...a blond wig on a Nigerian queen.
"I don't smoke but
I have cigarettes to offer
'Man' " She confides.
There she goes, arse
bare but for fishnets;
Done thinking it's unfair,
And dressed like a rubbish tip!


Eastern European bouncers guarding the entrance to a postage stamp
Why they bother to guard those who
don't want them; I don't know.
A new micro-bar
Micro-Cinema
Micro-Carrot cake
Cake, carrot-cake, cake
"Can I have one".
(need a microscope to see it)
How much! No thank you so
Very much.
That girl at Hilly Field's Farmers market
Was furious when she bought that artichoke;
To well-bred to say; 'and the cupboard was bare'
It's probably still on her mantelpiece now.


"Pattie, dumplin,
One festval and one carrot...
juice, large".
"You wan saace pon yer jerk chicken?"
"Me no wan fe cyarry me belly outa ere".
(Laughter)


Busy, busy, busy
"Some people have
things to do." Says
Earl, salon owner
and purveyor of Tweed
"Nice day to hang out
On the street".
"They're are not hanging out,
They are loitering"
Earl says towards the
gang of fellow
West Indians outside the
Betting Shop
"Hanging out!"
"Loitering!"
"Hanging out!"
"Loitering!"
"Sunning themselves!"
"Loitering!".


"It's the English buy
my stuff".
A fish-wife of a salesman
Of junk
Loud Essex and racist
Day after Brexit he put up a sign
To market entrance:
PASSPORTS PLEASE!
Insulting given the mixed demographic
Around him.
Like that other guy and his son,
Homophobic comments
Got them all together one day.
"How much is this picturebook
On Central Asia?"
Pot-bellied
In a Union Jack waistcoat,
They look at the turbaned
Man on the frontispiece
"Careful he doesn't
Blow you up!" he shouts
Out loud like a Betting Shop King
"It's funny how those
No better than landfill
Think themselves above others".

I Bear You In Mind

I bear you in mind
Because, holding you in my mind
Storing things about you, for no reason but you
Things you hold dear,
Matters to you.

You were studying...how's that going?
Your mother, is she better
How's that book, your garden
The wife and kids?
Devoid of opportunism
Good manners and some...
The Irishman crosses the party
Leans over and says
"Are you okay darling...
Shall I get you another drink, I'm just over there".
And that crumb of attentiveness
Makes the heart blossom
To have someone
Who bears me in mind;
Until then...
"How's your mum...?
"Your partner passed, how does that feel...?
"Your therapy practise...?
"Did you get a second opinion on that...?
And that well-mannered charming man
Crosses the road
"Hi, you were....
How's that going?"
"Well, thank you, and
Thank you for asking".
I bear you in mind
Because, holding you in my mind
Remembering things about you;
For no reason but you
Things you hold dear
Matters to you.

There's A Lot Of Angry Men

There's a lot of angry men about

Barking

At the top of their lungs

Harking

Back to the good old days

Stating

Britain's great, great, greatness

Hating

Any challenge to their supremacy

Farting

Higher than their arse

Smarting

At the slightest contrary suggestion

-Deluded-

That the world has not moved on

-Excluded-

They might like to revise

Presently

In the face of derision from outside,

Pleasantly

Admit that their place in the world

Practically;

Is now a titchy tiny islandy place and so,

Tactfully,

Pipe down.