A CLEAN GETAWAY

Sometimes I am moved to go back, for some reason or other, and revise an old poem. I came upon this one recently and played about with it.

THE PINK PUSH CHAIR

She laughs at the little boy

who rolls a pink toy pushchair

away, and back again

who delights in the motion of the wheels.

Then she makes her judgement

he will need gender realignment.

She knows how real boys behave

she has a son and he sits very close

and I have made the sin of contradiction,

this is why she laughs at the pram pusher.

Gender cannot be a social construction

that changes over time and culture.

She knows better, she is a mother.

I debate telling her that once

I was like that child,

but this would just prove her point

that she is correct in her judgement.

Her best friend has married me,

obviously I have turned her head

she sighs, women

are susceptible to that sort of thing.

You can read the original here. The layout is different and I've altered some of the lines. It can be an interesting exercise, although there is always the danger of overworking the poem.

This next poem is reportage. I recently watched a white van back into a Keep Left sign and scarper.

surprisingly the Keep Left bollard

popped off its plinth intact

he not pause to assess the damage

not even when the man

[whose hand signals had guided

his big white van out of the drive way]

shouted and gesticulated

he did not stop

he did not look back

he made a clean getaway

some people are just like that

It is more of a writing exercise than a poem, but I thought it worthy of inclusion.

Footshooter has a new video out. His new album came out the end of last year. It's well worth hearing.

Until next time.