I was talking to a drug dealer the other day,

(purely for research purposes you understand).

He said we had much in common.

“Like what”? I asked. 

Well for a start, “pot” is three quarters of “poet” and all the poets I ever met were at least three quarters gone the whole time.

A good point, well made, I felt. Albeit anecdotal in nature rather than based on firm data.

He warmed to his theme. “We can both get people high and we both help their minds expand”. He took my silence for dissension. “I bet you can’t think of a single difference between us”.

“I’ll take that challenge” I said. “You deal in lines, I deal in words. Both lead to very different sentences”.  Oh yes, I was very pleased with myself.

He thought for a while then said “I don’t like puns. I find they lack substance and smack of artifice”.

Everyone’s a critic. That the last time I make conversation in Camden.