I walk

I walk

It is what keeps me going

Walking in circles, wandering

Wondering, when you left

If you ever really did,

Did I hold you back

There was always something better you could be doing

Even now

With the lights shining out, from the office blocks

On Canary Wharf

Perpetuating the myth of wealth

As the poor boys wearing sackcloth

Poke around in the ashes

Of the golden years

Before the recession

Trying to relight the fire

Flouncing around in red braces

Drinking vintage champagne like water

Sparkling of course

When, for so many, the wishing has run dry.

Jesus wore sandals and cared not for

The money changers,

It is what is said

But that was then

Now it seems likely the Devil is a banker

Or a wanker, maybe both at one and the same time.

If you believe the evangelists

The haters and deep fakers

We are all in a state of despair

Waiting for enlightenment.

When the love is gone

What is left?

It is six years and more since I last saw you

Gurning as you focused on a canvas

I laughed at your lack of affectation

Hiding behind a smile

When the truth was too painful to witness,

For many,

Dragged through time.

Children’s lives can be so cruel

Memories are ravaged by truth

The dust of fallen stars

I walk, to keep one step ahead of the dead

And find myself in some strange places

Where the myth of ages past

Combines with the truth of things.

Old faces dissolve like melted wax

Nobody is as familiar as they once were

The tattoos on the skin of strangers

Are more easily recognised as cyphers

Than the parable of the prodigal.

Is a return of Albion

Ever going to materialise,

Trying to catch up

With what disappeared

When I awoke and found the best of us had gone.