SEEING SALLY CINNAMON Part 1: Westenders {to} Love At First Sight
Serializing Damian Beeson Bullen’s
SEEING SALLY CINNAMON & THE SCENTED SUTRA
WESTENDERS
Twas a quintessential English evening
All about town & the capital’s core,
On my arm a wonderful flutterling,
Perfectly amenable to the tour.
We met in a wine-bar off Trafalgar,
To delve within a cosy eaterie,
Then took our places at the theater
For the Mousetrap’s befuddling mystery.
O! The night brimm’d a goblet romantic
& our spirits, yes, they sparkl’d as the stars,
Rosie was a gentle alcoholic,
Floating, flirting, thro’ her favorite bars;
When to the chimes of Big Ben’s booming bells
We jump’d the last train down to Tunbridge Wells
ROSIE’S SCHOOL RUN
OH MY GOD! I’m having a nightmare,
Fuck, look at the fucking time!
“SHUUTTT UUUPPP!!!”
The kids are doin’ my head in
With their school-stuff everywhere,
“Here’s yer shoes, here’s yer socks,
Heres yer fuckin’ sandwich box!”
“MUMMY… don’t swear!”
OH MY GOD! Its ten to nine now,
& my car-keys JUST AREN’T THERE!
Will it rain, will mum call,
Will I end up on the dole
O MY GOD! Its five to nine now
& the traffic’s hit a WALL!
THIS IS MY COUNTRY
Good Morning Great Britain
Still great, still Britain
The sun is shining, 10:45 AM
£296.26 pence in my pocket
Time to bet it all on black & hit the road again
If time is a mere scratch & life is nothing
& nothing that occurs is of the slightest importance
Aberdeen to Birmingham, Arundel & Deal
Dullis Hill to Rotherham, Bristol & Peel
Inverness to Liverpool, Leeds & Palmer’s Green
Lewisham to Padiham & all the pubs between
Badminton to Twickenham & Barton-in-the-Beans
‘Til my bardic breath expires
This is my Time, this is my Rhyme,
This is my Country!
TRAINING IN THE ART OF FARE EVASION
The Fader Code
1 Remain alert
2 Always keep your cool
3 Trust your instincts
4 Never show your money
5 Know your stations
6 Another five minutes won’t hurt in the loo
7 Know your enemy
8 Know your postcodes
9 The train’s going there anyway
10 When in doubt, clout
11 Trains always comes when ya skinnin’ up
12 It is every Fader’s duty to baffle & confuse
13 Always remember your free cup of tea
14 No need to rush unless you’re being chas’d
RECOLLECTIONS: FIRST KISS
Partridge Walk, Burnley
I was a six-year-child when first I felt
My soul entwining with the fairer sex,
Em’rald-eyed neighbor, who, one starry night
Said, “Have you ever kiss’d a lass before?”
“Of course!” I yelp’d, but grandmas do not count
& as we kiss’d she giggled at my lips
Closed shut & clamp’d by frigid innocence,
& said, “No, not like that, ya kiss like this!”
& show’d me how my mouth should act a fish.
Soon sprinting home, embarrass’d at the deed,
That never was repeated I believe,
For looking back, I was, in tender days
Contented with the kisses of grandmas
& nee-owwwwing with little Corgi Cars.
PAISLEY
I’m cringing every time I see a garish Paisley tie,
I’d just popp’d hungry into Greggs a hottish pie to buy
& chose a steak & kidney offer’d up for ninety pee,
I took the pie, she took the change & said, “It’s ninety-three!”
I said, “Love, that’s false advertising,” stormin’ out the door,
But never mess with Weegie Birds, they’re all fuckin’ hard-core,
& leaping from her hum-drum she pursued me down the street,
Looking as if an earthquake were shaking a slab of meat,
& panting now beside me squeez’d the pastie from my hand,
Smugging with satisfaction at her petty jobsworth’s stand
& turns her tail in triumph, as back to her shop she skips,
You coulda balanced ninety-three bridies on those fat hips,
Then looking down on what was left, my skin all bruis’d with mince,
I thought I’d catch the first train out – ain’t ever been back since!
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
Being virgin to Eros & his sighs
Spectral seconds attend the growing soul
Hearing a lute-string’d aether-breathing call
I turn’d to see her star-wreath’d, lustful eyes
My eagle-lashed, Latvian poetess,
My pearl-eyed raven in her Persian dress,
My Spanish pea-hen spangling as she comes,
My nude Numidian banging djembe drums.
Like mountain men & archipelagos
Or young sweethearts sniffing a first red rose
Like money men glimpsing a glint of gold
Or distant kin returning to the fold
Long time, for this fair moment, did we wait,
Which two sure hearts attaches into one,
& felt us fair as fairly dealt us fate
As, with a gasp, we match empyrean!
We are the music of the finches green
We are two pussies purring by a fire
We are the fragrance of a vernal scene
We are two frogs full throated with desire
We are the thistle of your bonnie land,
We are twa rabbits sprinting cross the glen,
We are the seaweed strewn across the sand,
We are twa badgers snuggled in their den
Like songbirds witnessing the world’s first dawn,
Or proud parents cooing their babe’s first yawn,
Like virgins witness to the breast exposed,
Or an exploring of the always closed,
We are morning in the Tuscan enclaves,
We are night on the Sea of Galilee,
We are swans a-gone gliding between white waves,
For we are one in nature, you & me.
Mumble Words 