What happened to those nights

What happened to those nights

When we chain-smoked cigarettes

Listening to records

Drinking cheap wine

Eating spicy chicken wings

With french fries

Walked out in the small hours

To buy twenty Silk Cut

At a petrol station

From a bored looking guy

Covered in angry spots

Acne in Hackney

Eyes red from lack of sleep

Studying from books he borrowed

From the library

English a second language

Hoping to get a degree

And begin again

I always wondered what would happen

If I asked for something

Too big to be pushed through the slot

Supermarkets have been open all night

For a long time

But close the cigarette kiosk at night

It is a bit hypocritical

To cover them up

Behind steel shutters

But continue to sell them

Even gun shops have display models

The isles full of beer are closed

At midnight

You can’t buy it

Although a smash and grab

Wouldn’t be out of the question

Do many people shop

In the small hours

Nurses on night shift

Mothers carrying babies

Which one of them can’t sleep

What do Dads shop for?

Nappies and Calpol

But nothing stronger

The twenty-four-hour Pharmacy

In Kings Cross

Is always busy

Waiting for the clock to tick over

For methadone

Some Kebab shops never close

On Green Lanes,

In the West End

It can be as busy at midnight

As it is at midday

When did we stop going out?

Reading about life instead

Or watching it on the news

Listening to talking heads

Expounding contradictory views

When did we stop

Listening to music

In the small hours

Have I told you lately that I love you?

I remember making love

On a rug in front of an electric fire

To that song

I hope you do too.