Red-Headed

Tanned October leaves
blown into heaps against trees -
Autumn detritus,

wind blown carpeting
a mosaic of burnished bronze
underneath my feet

glisten in the rain
like wet fish in the market -
I button my coat.

Tanned October leaves
blown into heaps against trees -
Autumn detritus.

Hello Halloween, another year has come between
You & I & all of the things that we have both seen.
The plastic fantastic & the terribly drastic
With everything in-between that's now seen as past it
Has become the raison d'être for those still in credit.
But I nostalgically rhyme of a time when chips were
Served with fish & not intrinsically part of machines
That answer my phone, order goods & infect my dreams.
Oh, how ...

Always value independence
Don't put your faith in other's gods.
Every person is a prison
And love merely a transience.

Ignore that distant motherland
Don't cleave to virtues mostly flawed.
Every concept is a danger
And hate will just misunderstand.

So practise aloof detachment
Don't be a puppet of the times.
Every action has an outcome
And eventually a judgement.


...

As I leave the pub
two ducks fly across the sky -
bow-tied gent walks by.