time change

mamma !
the sudden call
breaks through quiet folds of sleep
the helper shifts from low-state introspection
to alert
to read and follow signs slewed by illness

time is the mystery
time, rhythm, mystery
a piebald piper am i
sitting by the atlantic
watching wave upon wave
trying to comprehend
to cut through the pinball overlay
the bells, the shrieks, the moralists running berserk
to get to where really is

help !

it´s 4 a.m.
hotel in zurich
cigarette smoke from the open window
outside, junkies transacting business
i wait
i am waiting for nothing
screaming
just to see without understanding
howling at the moon
o glorious shamash
o the heart that i have from my mamma
help me
please

a pretty pass

galloping through the pass
my heart stampeding
dust cloud half-killing me
stop
peace for a few moments
then the harrying resumes
looking at the ground
sullen, stubborn, misunderstood

i had glimpsed the shutters
thrown wide open
of the woman´s room
leapt for joy and then remembered
how it is these days
a time our sexual relationship was all-consuming
with the obsessive intensity of the couple relationship
now it´s sporadic
for me the obsession careering wildly
like a flake of sodium burning up on water

told you so !

a sneering moralist told me
yes, strike a dramatic attitude
and shout out
all or nothing !
the time will come
when all is gone
you´ll stare at dust
and suffer from serious pulmonary and respiratory complaints

mamma, the sea

i expect to die by the sea
whatever
a bomb attack on a harbour bar
this century´s lisbon earthquake and associated tsunami
a plane falling out of sky into sea
too much sun, heart seizing up
as i emerge from the waves
or just rowing
the tide turns
and i´m rowing
just rowing on

MONO

kicking dustbins over
smashing glass windows
bawling and screaming
you want to pwn her
but you´re not strong enough
and she´s not fool enough
moses shorn of his beard

lionheart

adolescents, we sat in music booths
listened and laughed
you were he
whom all the girls fancied
lost in medieval dust
i tagged along
as far as i could
you didn´t let it hurt you
when i cold-shouldered you
you well knew you held all the aces
those days we kept nail files, bus pass and a few coins in our school pockets
now forty years on i read your story
how your god-named son has saved you
for the time being

i greet you my friend
no-one has more
than the time being
but you know it better than most