29 October 2025
of your mind
paradoxical thoughts in the sunshine
neant neant neant
neon nothing nought
for you comfort zero
for your soul the
pederast of pumpkins
the halloween of holes
the mystery mix celeb
the dervish dirge and donging
holey moley in my mind
says the cosmos is unkind
and full of hate, so much
is evident, which is better
to discover late
if not at all
paradoxical experience in a place of good repute
p’raps sartre got it right
the nothingness of neon
is way too bright at night
or in the day
and beats poor heads that
cruise the supermarket aisles
for equal nothings in plastic jars
of nutrition facts
and other intellectual snacks
i was sixteen when i saw the light
switch on in purgatory
the resurrected JIMMY’S
corner store was now
a SUPER market
the first one in the town
and everything delectable
and everything trite
was a promise to a boy
who crossed the road alone
aged four and unbeknown
to his mother or big sister
(my little sister’s friend) –
one moment he’d be locked
in his room which was
completely bare save for
a mattress (everything
else he’d destroyed he’d
even ripped the plaster
from the walls revealing
studs and wiring and the
dried remains of rats) but
when he calmed down
out he would be let
to chat nice things with mummy
then quietly disappear
from consciousness
and some time later
magically reappear
with an icecream in
his hand and running
down his face where
on earth did you get that
from? we never buy them
there’s nothing in the fridge!
it remained a mystery until
one day i was visiting
my little sister’s friend
and thought i’d keep an eye out
when her brother slipped
the family’s mind, and
there he was slipping
down the garden to the
hedge that hid the fence
he’d made a hole in both
and through he crawled
and dropped down to
the footpath that skirted
the highway out of town
the kid looked up and down
the road then wandered out
in later decades he could be
a king of computer games
he judged the oncoming vehicles
velocity/trajectory like
and expert program designed
for such and through he went
no one skidded no one swerved
he just appeared on the other
side of the road and into
the store he went – i followed
and stalked him ambling through
the frozen goods section
where he took some time
to choose his snack, then
took off the wrapper from
the icecream on a stick
and licked said icecream
delicately as only a
four year old can lick
then wandered to the
checkout and attached
himself to a likely looking mum
then wandered out with her
not realising what he’d done
detached himself and so
back across the terrifying
traffic i watched him go
then climbed the wall
and through the undergrowth
and up the garden
back to mummy and
mummy’s sister who
had just arrived to witness
their mystery boy return
i took some pleasure
declaring the problem solved
and was politely reassured
they cared, and could i now
block the holes in the hedge and fence
and plaster up his room?