Nigel McLoughlin
Two Songs
After John Berryman
Among the stone and rock
Of my bleak garden, grew
A fragile bluebell, singular,
Mr Bones, and true
To its colour, being frocked
Everywhere by gravel; its head angular.
Until the day that Henry sent
The box by post, huge
And wooden and rectangular,
Edges sharp with letters rouged
‘This way up’, it meant
To keep the contents straight, untangled.
The postman left it on the ground
Just outside the door, pushed
Up against the wall.
I found the fragile bluebell crushed
And stencilled black: ‘breakable’. I found
Nothing inside it, nothing at all.
*****************
I took to the drink after that.
You can’t imagine the effect
That alcohol has, Mr Bones,
Brings a focus I never knew I had, deflects
Perspective from the pat
And turns the senses, turns the mind to stone.
- I know it, man, I know it.
I’ve seen what it can do.
I’ve been there oftentimes myself,
Man, I wish I was you
Well, Mr Bones, I grow
Wearier each day. I worry about my health.
What do you do when life has lost its fun?
- I don’t know, maybe sit down and talk
Or fetch another bottle from the fridge.
Mr Bones I think I’ll take a walk.
- Where you goin’, son?
I’m going to the bridge.
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