Some songs take me back to childhood
Some songs fill my soul with fight
Some songs follow me around like a stray dog
Some songs keep me up at night
.
Some songs were better the first time
Some songs trap me in the past
Some songs are just for you and me, love
Some songs save me at the last.
Nana died with an egg in her mouth
Grandad said it was her first bite
Mum screamed ‘Mam!’ at the funeral
It gave us all a fright
.
We went to Aunty Jean’s in the afternoon –
Aunty Jean had a pool
I remember thinking how good it was
To get the day off school
.
I remember Nana smelled of talc
And told us off saying ‘That’ll do!’
I remember Grandad smelled of smoke
And kept himself aloof
.
They lived in a house like a million others
Had a greenhouse filled with tomatoes
They watched the snooker all day long
They drove a dark brown Lada
.
I tried to cry when Nana died
But I think I was putting it on
Mum screamed ‘Mam!’ at the funeral
And had to be helped along
.
Nana died with an egg in her mouth
Grandad took it out with a spoon
I remember thinking how good it was
To get the day off school.
The cemetery where my nana is buried.
Perhaps you fear what the future holds
For a child born into a messed-up world
Or that we’re too old or stuck in our mold
To give up our best years
But you’ll be a wonderful mother
I saw it on Day 1
Saw your willingness to discover
And that’s what children want
Not a blank, immovable object
But a ball rolled down a hill
Not the stubbornness of rules
But the endless dance of wills
We’ll be a guide to them, not a master
And show them the story so far
And you’ll be a wonderful mother
Because you already are.
Edie and I @Brooklyn Bridge Park, Summer 2014.
What happened to you when you were young?
Old man hate got a hold
Was it the usual passive-aggressive shit?
Did your soul catch a cold?
.
Did the boys all ignore you in class
And the girls find you prim?
If only someone had told you it won’t last
But they didn’t, so you gave in.
.
It’s easier to detonate a fuse
Than it is to build bridges
But it’s wearier to make hate your muse
Than to let love blur your edges
.
What happened to you when you were young
Is no excuse for blindness
The pain you carry is yours alone
Its only relief is kindness.
Katie Hopkins when she was young.
*Katie Hopkins is a British tabloid newspaper columnist known for her strongly right-wing views. She recently wrote a column comparing African men, women and children seeking a better life in Europe to cockroaches and said they deserved to be shot at with gunships. Shortly after her column was published 900 migrants died when their boat capsized in the Mediterranean.
We’re not here for long
Standing in the subway
Listening to a song
.
This is where I transfer
Alongside the others
Two friends meet by chance
Lean in close like lovers
.
And somewhere nearby
A white rabbit’s busy pacing
.
He must’ve forgot
.
We’re not here for long
A parenthesis between the Ages.
“The imaginary place to go to” by Edie Pijpers
Into winter vacation
Green lake zen
Comes
Prick on a jet ski
.
Turning circles
Spraying his scent:
Diesel and sun cream
.
The swallow arcs skyward
To get out the way
But he’s not asking
.
In Ray Bans and wetsuit
He tears up the place
But the peace will outlast him.
.
Beneath herons in flight
And skies of azure
Comes
Prick on a jet ski
.
He can hold his head high
In the company of men
When they ask his top speed
.
But he can’t hear bird song
Or the ripple of waves
Feel soft breezes against him
.
Just the spank on water
Of his fibre glass hull
Like a kid banging plates for attention.
Man on a jet ski.
Chattanooga this Chattanooga that –
Boston’s bigger than Cleveland –
Oregon’s green, New York’s black –
.
Blue collar jobs gone to China
White collar crime on the rise
Grandma takes pills for Angina
Grandpa watches Fox, can’t eat fries
.
If you grow green you’ll be busted
Except in Colorado and Cali – how’s that?
Houses in the South smell musty
Can’t scrub off the shame of the past
.
This United States of Confusion
Gunshots on city blocks – who’s to blame?
Cops shooting kids shooting heroin
But no way to fix psychic pain.
.
Chattanooga this Chattanooga that –
Portland’s wetter than Tucson –
Alaska’s cold, but low tax –
.
Manhattan priced out the artists
Detroit’s a stain on us all
Tech-heads are joining the army
Wall Street bonuses too big to fall
.
Red states won’t socialize with blue ones
Conspiracy theories abound
I had a dream we were dreaming
If we don’t wake up soon we’ll all drown.
Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning) is a US Iraq War veteran currently serving 35 years for leaking a massive cache of military secrets.
Move toward the love each day
In each altercation
Never try to hide your pain
Be true to your nature
–
Listen with heart and mind
Cry sometimes, it’s human
No need to be always asking why
Some things can’t be proven
–
Be the change you want to see
Don’t give in to hatred
Else you’ll see faults in all you see
And life will ever be tainted
–
Move toward the love each day
And each day will grow brighter
Even when the sky is grey
Everything will feel lighter.
A sunny day on the beach @ Seaton Carew, Northeast England
Faces on the subway
Rarely a second glance
Still, when our eyes meet
It’s something like romance.
Some like their smart phones
Some read their books
Me, I watch the faces
Collect their stolen looks.
I am not rich except in all the ways you should be
no need to spell it out
I am not smart but smart enough to know right from wrong
shall I go on?
Or can the song stop here with the bolded-up truth that finds the mark each time
a la Babe Ruth?
That we’re all there already and that winning is redundant
when all have won
Open your hand, see the prize stretch out from your fingertips to infinity
to everyone.
Me in the Badlands of South Dakota. Photograph by Iain Willis.
paul willis 