Oh god. Oh Dear.

A hangover in New York New York.

Small recollections through

hazes of alcohol pulsed pain.

Shaking fingers fumbling 

for coffee and cigarette.

In a dark wood cased  cabin

from sweat stinking bunk.

A million other people

who jerked through the same dance

Night before around the world.

I stepped in time with you.

 

On subways that fled past

as horizontal kaleidoscopes 

filled with germs and smoke,

And the lost waiting mindlessly

For a gap to mind.

With silent frightened dwellers

seen in a thousand unseen glimpses.

Speeding past every mugger 

and murderer in New York.

On the way to towers of shit

and drugs and petty insanity.

 

Noo Yoik and beef boigers.

Jack Dempsey’s bar full 

of punch drunk memories.

“Get the Limey a drink”. 

Broken old pugs living

to fight again in Jacks bar.

Walls washed in raging bulls,

floating butterflies and marvellous sugar.

“Hey man you wanna wild toiky”.

Bourbon drinking competition.

Two US marines vomiting their youth away.

“You’d better clean that up motherfucker”.

 

Barmaid has tattoos 

And a way with words.

The competition never trained.

As I had, from sixteen.

Fisherboy to Fisherman, 

trying to be both.

Never growing up.

We had hard drinking trainers.

On Hessel Rd in “Raynors pub”.