No Reptiles

Slip from the threes

to the dirt to the menace to the wild to the car,

under snow, cut to ribbons like coral to your shin,

like a manacle to swing

Fresh from the breast now a river running rat,

to the manor born a rat,

to the manor born a flea,

to a flood to a drain,

now a rubber now a chain

I was in the war

You were in the war

Plump from the sugar-water pump,

with the city at your back, to the cannon with a match,

from the milk into a mass grave, never mind that

I can take that bones in a bowl like a toad-in-a-hole

take the shape of the mould, like a mummy on a pole,

and a merry little head bob around when you’re dead

I was on my knees

You were on your knees

And no reptiles!

Just soft boiled eggs in shirts and ties,

waiting for the flashing green man

Quivering and wobbling

just like all the eggs you know

I’m going to kill a stranger

So don’t you be a stranger

Oh baby it’s alright

It’s alright to feel

Like a fat child

In a pushchair

Old enough to run

Old enough to fire a gun

Just give me this one night

Just one night to feel

Like I might be on the right path

The path that takes me home

Wise enough to know mysem

Old enough to fire a gun...

Just give me this one night

Just one night to feel