Like those elders who ponder the social acceptability of stretch synthetics and red lipstick, I myself consider the merits or lack thereof, of twinsets, lavender perfume and best china. Somehow believing they may propel me thirty years to an unspent paradigm of taking time, tea and secaturs to the roses.

Point 4 Miscarriage Point 4 missed period Point 4 step child Point 4 Never conceived a third Point 4 Tried,tried and tried and failed Point 4 Twin foetus never reached term Point 4 Removed by social services Point 4 Never cared for anyway Point 4 Abortion Point 4 Point 4 Or … My children distrubuted In five knotted hankerchiefs amongst the careless ungrateful And greedy.

You and I, Our small thread lives Throw yarns The colour of sun and petroleum, They trace indefinite routes Within this Mandalic mutation. Persisting to realise, They will pull us from our feet and hurl us Straight Into the eye of the needle.

Cast before the conductor They wait. Hand in hand We the cello section Slip quietly to the bar.

You and I, Our small thread lives Throw yarns The colour of sun and petroleum They trace indefinite routes Within this Mandalic mutation. Persisting to realise They will pull us from our feet and hurl us Straight Into the eye of the needle.

As the afternoon got later, trucks and utility vehicles began moving away from the twon towards the outer roadways. They moved slowly and in small irregular convoys. From the bottom of a pylon, Tive and Miko sat against the wall and ate fruit buscuits from a crumpled carrier bag and watched the shiney black metal crawl by. In the distance a vast section of grey reflected the low sunlight. ‘Time to come in now you two’ Cole stepped into the open doorway and looked down at the boys sitting besi...

On a road That cuts through wasteland Somewhere between Dalston and Leyton A 1984 pick-up truck Has dropped it’s load And stopped Somewhere else A red haired girl Who knows the world differently Plays alone in an Empty Park Two men wearing turbans Have climbed out of the truck They frantically Gather up Onions The onions On impact with concrete Exploded From orange net sacks Landed Split, bruised, paper skin tattered They Burn the air Between pavements In a blue vest and shorts The red haire...

The following day, the same as everyday, Cole woke up early. He went outside and walked along the path under the wire until he got to the hedgerow. Here he picked the trail of the water pipe system and began to trace it from the side of the hedge. The blue plastic pipe ran gradually upwards towards the copse and disappeared under the foliage. He followed the trail of the pipe, catching the occasional glimpses of blue to guide him. He stopped to take a piss against a tree, then walked a bit fu...

It looks nice in here Without those bits of unnecessary apology Littering up the floor With our habits stacked In tidy piles Easily accessible For as and when we need them Or to alphabetacise sometime later

On a road That cuts through wasteland Somewhere between Dalson and Leyton A 1984 pick-up truck Has stopped Somewhere else A red haired girl Who knows the world differently Plays alone in an Empty Park Two men wearing turbans Have climbed out of the truck They frantically Gather up onions The onions On impact with concrete Exploded from orange net sacks and now roll about Pavement to Pavement In a blue vest and shorts The red haired girl Stands barefoot Ankle deep In water And now on impact wi...