The Poem

‘The poem with this music is complete’-Claude McKay

Jasmines

It’s a small world

I decided to take a trip to Australia

I was tired of feeling like a failure

My uncle had built a house in Tasmania

I wanted to go walkabout,find bush tucker and dahlia

Some of it was quite familiar

I walked around the market for memorabilia

They still had Special K,Walkers crisps, cadburys factory and Heinz

The kangaroo’s had massive behinds!

I went to an aborigine art gallery,and who should I bump into but Valerie!

I hadn’t seen her in 20 years,we went to school together and

Reminisced with beers!12000 miles away from home!

‘My own sailor hat’

When I was three I had my own sailors hat

There is nothing more cool than that!

My grandad took me to New York

And he showed me where the Titanic would have port

He took me in a Macy’s store

And held my hand on the escalators

He took me to see the statue of Liberty

And taught me all it’s history

We went up the Empire State building

But at first I was unwilling

I looked up at Times Square

Yellow cabs were beeping everywhere

The lights were so bright,I dreamed I could write

For Broadway,for film and stay up all night!

I wanted to sing my little heart out

There were lot’s and lot’s of street performers about

Then we went to McDonalds

It was my favourite place in the world

The weather was really,really hot

We had snowcones and lollypops!

We went into an art gallery and then

The New York State library,borrowing

We watched New Yorkers on the street arguing

The steam rose from above us

The hotels went up so high

This was 1983,I jumped up and down excitedly

Grandad took my picture with a polaroid

I wondered if I would see an asteroid

When I got home I made the New York skyline with

Stickle bricks,

I dreamed of returning and counted the minutes

Maybe I could go on a sleigh with St Nick!

Grandad was in the navy all his life

He showed me the ocean,the horizon and

How to fly a kite

I miss my Grandad

Sweets,chocs,nuts

Is it better than self-harming?

Some people are covered in cuts

Or pluking their guts

Does it feel like no one gives a fuck?

Is that why they mess with their looks?

I eat because life gets too much

It’s an emptiness,a loneliness

A neglect of love

Someone stop me ,I don’t want to self-destruct

The clouds are gathering,I need some luck

The perfect lips

The perfect bum

What are we really running from?

My secret is…….

Not ready to tell!

The World when I’m asleep

Has Angels protecting me from creeps

The World when I’m asleep

Has stars that light up my street

The World when I’m asleep

Has flowers tickling me feet

The World when I’m asleep

Has fairies that stop me weep