Go, Take in the Beauty

by Andrew Taylor

stand to the right
keep hold of the handrail

on the last night in San Francisco
we missed The Album Leaf

red lights through terminus fence
the rails can and do lead to you

wear the battery down it can always
be charged

power through points that sound
cold it is better to leave to return

There is a wind within dreams
falling from the sun

through summer fog stand still
until we are the last

Drinking coffee out of paper cups with plastic lids

by Andrew Taylor

The lemons are from Turkey
                                          container enters
motorway corridor

pace gather a sense of runway

strip light replacement
                                      across point ghost tunnel

river gradient
glow of ink shine of ink

condensation on the inside of a plastic lid

underground

take the technical work it through

there is the possibility of a rainbow

first encounter
                           river view

Tom would take the commuter ferry
in early evening mist

wait! the office is not yet open
by chance the cup is brewing

pilgrimage seven streets expanded
views from the floor

neon of Exchange Bar reflection
               leaves tambourine tumble

knee high boots weather
accordion stops
                    tail end of hurricane
or is it a severe storm

between March and December
                                                  annual communication

carve your useless names
                    before the storm gods
unleash

here they are!

don’t wear corduroy before your time
keep paper cuts clean
make sure not to slag people off in poems

you will be plagiarised

‘Welton began to bore me
                                         Matthew began to bore me’

Don’t drink Gin in the winter

the young won’t get it the young won’t get it
tell us what you want and tell us what you need

Listening to Scott Walker
                               loudly
it really should be played
in a rented house in Bootle
on Mordaunt Shorts

reading a big paper

# 66 but the bottle is #12131

The fence has been cut
                     it burns with a crack
sparks rise like bubbles in a vintage glass

the blanket is for coverage
stay with it buddy boy!

run to the grocery
unless you want frozen pizza

I'll fix you some coffee

Oh we're all out of it
you had rather a lot last night

On Listening to Epic45 Travelling North

by Andrew Taylor

Tunnels differ out there
radio masts listen
for imminent threat

brickwork darkened through
years of northbound traffic

Birds gather on electricity
cables it’s heading towards
that time of night

the copse is settling down
the harvester has done its work

shorn and given over an active
continuity bales stacked in semi-
derelict barns green signal
on branch line            shines

Ghost of the Ace Face

by Andrew Taylor

“Bring me back a pebble” “I will though
I have only seen sand so far” and a burnt
down pier

sky blue ‘Brighton Rock’ breath streams
matches exhaust along the front

the world seems flat and over there
somewhere you take your time to sleep

If I crane my neck I can see the sea
from my window

room lights and other people’s lives
illuminate the courtyard and filter
through the net curtains

as slowly the codeine washes over me
like the coldness from the sea

Maybe Preston in the Spring

by Andrew Taylor

If I listen to The House of Love
in front of kit I hear Saturday
afternoon Radio 1 when it was good

rather like winter giving way to spring
Sunday TV music programmes
videotape at the ready

above the Launderette
smell of the docks daffodils
beginning to flower on the roundabout

Do you know? It sounds as fresh today
as it did in 1989