Category: Passages

I always went there to find calm.
Correlation and
comparison – loss, their’s so much greater.
Quiet,
it always
even the necessary lawnmower straitened and subdued,
delicately respectful of the headstones.

Bookends, brackets, margins –
what lies between?
It was the craziest six months of my life
danger, drugs, vice, stupidity; all and more.
Retrospection shakes its head
age wonders how youth emerged alive.

Calm: trees, filtered sunshine, flowers, offerings. Quiet.
Comparison: grief and loss – far greater.
Correlation : her entire life was six months. The same six months.

It was always busy, especially on Friday and Saturday nights
a kind of, camaraderie of browsing
and certainty –
in and out literally for some,
others taking time.
The staff were knowledgeable and friendly
a mixture of enthusiasts, anoraks, part-timers
and David – resident expert, who really did know everything –
everything about film –
making good recommendations and astute cautions
– yes, you’ll like that… no it’s not for you.
He just seemed to know what someone would and wouldn’t like.

Be adaptable and smart say the marketing gurus.
They were – for 25 years
shifting from VHS to DVD to Blu-ray
with clever pricing and first-rate catalogue
until cable and Netflix.

It’s gone now, a café and bakery eviscerated
then painted over memory. Nothing remains,
where did they go?
What happened to David and his rare talent?

Stevie Nicks sultry rock soprano
sang of performers only caring for the audience when performing.
He had been a performer of sorts
a sportsman at national and international level –
a good performer
won medals, adulation, renown, –
recognition – admiration from men and from women ….

Time minds its own business
no clamour or greed
present –
an interval, and act from play on stage then gone
a performance.

In the sauna of a swimming complex the former sportsman
strikes poses
watching the two young women eagerly – greedily.
The performance is two decades too dated
the audience too young,
unaware of identity and once fame.