It begins – with an appetite [he said]
to discover my self-respect [ah yes]
to redeem the day/ So the day does
not go down in debt [he had said as
he looked around his Tower of Song
& in his fridge was a cold notebook
of unfinished choruses about you]/
I’d sport a suit [& a fedora] if I wore
his tongue & slim hips & weightless
thoughts [it helps having his height]
& I slip from fancy dress too easily]
Undressed lyrics [stripped back] to
fool’s gold will not pay answers out
to a chanteuse or torch song singer
bought into meanings/ Our words’ll
re-lace our bindings [if left unsung]/
With a tune to fix to all is now loose
& unproven in time’s beat of songs
as our tossed coin feeds a busker/
It begins with finding dignity [I said]