Fizzing Spitting On whirlwinds and pigeons alike The sky turned against us So I’m turning, too Training to pummel A curve in the moon Up there with the tide on a string Give it a rest Altitude’s a myth Anime’s a documentary All logic’s infallible No matter what you say

There’s a sound coming from elsewhere A low hum beneath the stairs And when it goes If it goes Will it leave us beckoning a deafening silence So we stoke the fire Feeding the beast Whatever it needs Whenever it needs I’d seen it before In books with pictures Four legs, two heads The stuff of nightmares Gestates for years In the total quiet A roaring black-hole Where the love once was

I really loved your TED Talk At the gun factory You spoke such convincing Klingon Yeah, you could’ve fooled me The audience, enrapt Responded with unbridled glee They would eat out of your hand They would bleed when you bleed Six minutes never passed so fast Who knew rafters actually shook The light-show was a little crass Projecting dicks into the eyes of an elderly crowd Up well passed their bedtimes but no less proud of you After the show - the merch stand You bask in reverie Fully erect and penniless A ‘casting couch’ dream It dawns on you the droves Have left their front row seats Without paying the attention You so badly need Jaw swinging, so aghast Both fists are clenched Around what hair is left You didn’t think you’d have to ask For donations big or small Literally anything at all Even a friend A few kind words Maybe a shoulder to cry on Just a pittance for the piper The performing monkey lifer Always one show from shutting shop Ladies and gents That’s your lot

It’s written in the milk The future dropped trou Bent over and coughed So call off the weather report Everything we need Everything we need to know Is right here in this bowl It’s easier said (than done) But easier still (to do nothing) When I’ve the time To idle away I’m sending signals to my brain And they say “You’ve got this, don’t collapse” Intoned with my fingers crossed ‘Calm and collected’ comes to mind We kicked a burning car To see if there were bees inside The blaze, the buzz They razed our boots to ash Fuelled by dark eco Don’t collapse here comes home (Drawn and quartered) Breath, If you want to Resign to sighs Of relief Breath You’ve kind of got to Lungs don’t play second fiddle To pure self believe (Syphoning calm from a place You once heard of in a dream The tainted waterpark militia’s planting plasters it seems. They feed on tiny disasters.) In gear and out of my mind I invented the whole thing And it nearly, almost rhymed Focus on each breathe When chaos is mutual Oh, dark eco

Solemnly say “You’re wasting those limbs Gesticulating in conversations” And as static holds the air Peel out of the drive thru Turn to the right and yell “These American cars Have a place in M8 hell!” But with the windows down I’m too spoiled for sound So look inward (I decide that) I will exercise each time I wake And reduce my caffeine intake I will eat as healthily as I can And maybe even write a five year plan (A two year plan, a half year…) I will learn to drive so I don’t need Someone else to take the wheel for me I’ll keep both eyes on the road And obey the green-cross-highway code If you had too we mightn’t be Spiralling, plummeting towards the... With everything in flux it seldom seems We’ve time to catch a breather To sit and grind our teeth But here in medical purgatory My brain has stopped, I’ve won a watch It feels a bit like peace The fear of limbo flickers, fades And joined the ranks of hellish mortal yesterdays Denial through acceptance All distilled into the purest form Doing death all wrong But then the past cries several names At once I’m back in school, the hospital On holidays From all directions colours claim My line of sight, and periphery Dancing in lurid shapes Focus on each breath (*Radio babble car adverts blah blah*) My slumped subconscious Lies in a heap In the corner dishevelled Like you just wouldn’t believe The heart kicks harder Skirting a beat But it’s tomorrow already And I’m still trying to sleep Yeah, It’s tomorrow already And I’m still trying to sleep

You have travelled to the city of Marseilles to visit your friend Pierre As you arrive at the bus station you are greeted by his brother, Augustine Bonjour, Augustine Augustine is deep in thought Hours pass in silence, as the warm glow of afternoon fades to a brisk shade of evening You sit in the family chalet, around the dinner table Pierre’s mother, Geraldine, asks you what you do for your hobbies in Scotland You do not answer You have other things on your mind You finally manage to coax some information out of Augustine Upon receiving it your gut plummets Pierre is missing Au revoir, Pierre (Ah ah, je suis por favor) Geraldine cannot stand the frosty mood and leave the table in tears She has barely touched her meal Pierre’s father, Gerard, mops up her leftovers with the end bit of a baguette And asks you if you have leftovers in Scotland You do not answer You are coming to terms with the fact that you may be the first person in history to find out that their penpal is missing without a trace You hack into Pierre’s emails with your hacker gloves – the only thing you took with you What is the past participle of ‘hacker gloves’? Use it in a sentence Augustine reaches over your shoulder and points emphatically at an email from Fatima Pierre’s pen pal (Ah ah, je suis por favor) “Bonjour, Pierre. I am looking forward to your visit. J’adore your visit! Love, Fatima” Pierre has gone to visit his pen pal, Fatima You have gone to visit your pen pal, Pierre At your home a foreign exchange student called Raymond is lying in your bed He is wearing your clothes Your parents – Gregor and Elaine – are calling him ‘son’ over and over and over again Bon nuit, Raymond Bon nuit, Pierre Bon nuit, Fatima Bon nuit, Geraldine (Je suis por favor) Bon nuit, Gregor