THE WARMTH OF THE SUN
The sun, the warm glorious
Sun came today & I went
& I basked in it & felt my mood
Improve & I inhaled the smoke
Of the crusty sat just down from
Me & for the first time in five
Long days the world seemed
Just right as all around the
Masses walked on pass & me
& my mate just sat & shot the
Shit as the sun covered us in
Beautiful glorious warmth
Until I had to go home & hide.
THE SUN CAME TODAY (and the breeze carried my mood)
As the sun came out today, at last releasing itself
From behind the confines of that seemingly
Perpetual dark cloud, the world suddenly seemed
Like a much better & kinder place and as I went
Out to walk, all the way down to the marina with
Just the intention of walking, I had one of those
Truly rare moments of wonder when I realised
Oh fuck yes this is truly beautiful.
A ROUTINE IN LOCK-DOWN
A new routine has somehow come
To rule this life as an early morning
Rise is now a regular fixture but the
Old ways still hold firm in some
Regards as soon some tea and a smoke
Will come to save the morning before, even at
The ungodly hour of 08:08, my
Old mind will start to whirl and
Soon this old machine will be taken
Off the desk and words will be
Written. After one or two
attempts
At some new poems I’ll rest, listen
To the god-damn patronizing radio
Talking down to me telling me always
The same propaganda, lies & threats.
‘Stay Home - Save Lives - Protect The NHS’
They will drone quoting the
Government’s official policy during
This strange odd time of so-called
Lock-down. I’ll contemplate some
Lunch but by-pass that in favour of
More smoke, more tea and soon, when
The world is eating their lunch, I'll
Return to my bed and sleep glorious
Sleep. Soon after I'll wake again
And start back in; more tea, more
Green and soon I'll be back.
Today it’ll be chapter seven of the
Blessed second draft and from there
Well who knows except my grumbling
Stomach, finally hunger having set
In I'll call the one person I talk with
Everyday and everyday it’s the same
Old conversation. We’ll talk about
Our days and what we’ve done and
Finally I’ll decide what to do for
Dinner. After that is eaten I'll
sit
Back down and work on the writing
Some more all in a bid to get me out of here.
And only once that is all done I’ll
Roll another and smoke it on down
Before hitting the streets to clear
My mind, hit the reset button and
Finally I'll come on home and watch
Some brain-dead movie just so, at
Last, my mind can switch off. I’ll
Smoke some more and hopefully
Laugh a little before i switch on my
Radio and return to bed knowing
Tomorrow I'll wake and start in
All over again except this time it’ll
Be Chapter eight.
CONTEMPLATING ESCAPE AS THE DAYS OF OLD RETURN TO
HAUNT
Tonight
Today
Hell
the whole last
Couple
of weeks
Have
been hard,
Hard
as the lock-down
Closes
first my door
And
then my mind to
Life
outside my door.
The
horror that
Comes
every time i
Leave
this house
To
go
Out,
Out
there where
The
dead now rule
As
the nights
Close
in early.
Me,
I remain here
When
I ain’t getting
Disturbed
at my
Work
where shop-lifters
Come,
say hey to me,
Before
fleeing the
Scene
and me stuck
Frustrated
and bored
On
those god-damn check-outs.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON HOME ALONE
With the radio on and the football about to kick-off
At last a Saturday comes into view not wrecked by
Insanity and mass alcoholic consumption. This
Morning I woke, nicely rested, and went about my
Business.
Breakfast followed a smoke and a cuppa and then it
Was out to get some food from a local supermarket
Soaking in the madness of the street down which I
Walked. Then
finally back at home I sat and got
Back to this.
This working on the word that comes when I need
It to, especially on days like these, days when time
Has passed, three weeks now nearly since I last
Attempted anything successfully but now I’m
Back and the feeling is good.
Bradford Middleton lives in Brighton on the UK’s south coast. Recent poems have or are forthcoming in Dreich, Back Room Poetry ‘Rebel Anthology’, River Dog Zine, Beatnik Cowboy and Stink Eye Magazine. His most recent chapbook was published in early 2023 by those mighty fine souls at the Alien Buddha Press. He tweets occasionally @BradfordMiddle5.
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