Mare che fiumi accoglie
Veronika was hopelessly drawn to Tom's smothered chops
you're the only one here not chasing tail she crooned
(which wasn't strictly speaking true)
as she eased herself out of her mermaid costume
making me spoil the track by overdubbing 2 & 3 on 1
l'angelo nero persuaded Schwanda the Bagpiper
to pork around with trollops smoke in public places
tinker with strangers' appendages & duff designer trinkets –
even blow down the end of drugged octopuses
reworking maritime ballads & blues-inflected shanties
into glistening yards of slightly twisted spawn
his soul was as stuffed with sin's fat roe
as an infected gap in the head with bright lime mucous
full of the salty tang of young sea-lettuce in spring
one day poised to abuse a beached whale at Brancaster
Schwanda was saved by a mystical German sea creature called
the Omniscient Mussel sung tonight by Jill Grove (mezzo)
Schwanda der Dudelsackpfeifer
let me tell you pronounced the Mussel in gritty German
you are coming to a sticky end as usual
having a whale of a time
but dribbling your prodigious gifts into the sand
you're giving skateboarding a bad name too
fuck off said Schwanda breathlessly lighting up a Camel
you're not even in this opera it's just poetry in motion
yet Schwanda was given another chance
& returned from hell without that natural backward glance
I myself have just been practising modal shifts
& have tipped the spit
out of a student model
(soprano)
it's the end of an era
this could be the last time I don't know
Helen didn't even go to Troy
she spent that decade in Egyptian resorts
doing yoga & aerobics
Tai Chi organic gardening
the odd poetry workshop
auditioning for girl bands
& snuggling up with Menelaus for counselling sessions
today we're doing the history of the mind
a bit of distance learning Kurt Vonnegut said
we're here on earth to fart around
Norfolk April 2007