Elephant Small Vol 5 Read online

Elephant Small

  Vol 5

  Stanski

  Copyright©2013 Stanski

  Crawling Distance

  In Decline

  The Night Jasmine

  The Fourth Millennium

  Hotel 27

  A Fetish For Frustration

  Elephant Small Vol 1

  Elephant Small Vol 2

  Elephant Small Vol 3

  Elephant Small Vol 4

  Cover photo © Stanski

  Elephant Small

  Vol 5

  Contents

  1. Still Standing

  2. One In The Eye For Customs

  3. Macrobatics

  4. Wilderness

  5. Fishing Chips

  6. Work Song

  7. No Short Cuts; Always The Scenic Route

  8. Digital Display

  9. Unwanted Gifts

  10. Recession Persists

  11. Number’s Up

  12. Thanksgiving

  13. Workaholics

  14. Untouchable

  15. Starter’s Orders

  16. The Beginning Of The End

  17. Seconds

  18. Tardist

  19. Super

  20. John Doe

  21. The Face Of Concern

  22. Liar

  23. An Offer I Can Refuse

  24. Anniversary.

  25. It’s Just Not Cricket

  26. How Nairobic?

  27. Indellible

  28. Uncommon

  29. Black Sheep Reprise

  30. Wish You Were Here?

  31. Light Source

  32. Jobsearch

  33. Treat Or Trick?

  34. Shipshape

  35. Not Least

  36. Master Chef…?

  37. Penny Drops

  38. Rough Trade

  39. Later That Same Evening

  40. Cooking The Books & Writing On Walls For The Bone Idle

  41. 0

  42. Chick-ing Out

  43. Spot The Difference

  44. Parental Guidance

  45. What’s My Name…?

  46. Perfect Senses

  47. OCD

  48. The Clock Struck Five

  49. Where There’s Life, There’s Hope

  50. Ell Er Fence Maul Says Sir Ten Fingza Bow Tevo Loo Shun F Rit N Wurdz… Innit…?

  1. Still Standing

  The first time I died

  Nobody noticed

  No tears shed

  No flowers

  No regrets

  The second time round

  Only the killer

  Was ever aware

  And even then

  It took ten years

  Third time was different

  It lasted longer

  Missed by the two

  People who knew

  People who cared

  If I should die

  For a fourth time

  Think only this

  It’s not the end

  Of me…

  2. One In The Eye For Customs

  One can only imagine

  Original intention

  To ‘deter terrorist acts’

  However, on reflection

  (and two weeks in Majorca)

  Government announcement

  That the vast majority

  Of ordinary tourists

  Who’d endured the procedure

  Felt it an infringement

  On their civil liberties

  An intrusion on their rights

  And so the Coalition

  Confirmed it intends to scrap

  Plans to make compulsory

  The Biometric Passport

  3. Macrobatics

  Since about 1984

  My big brother’s been watching me

  Through the lens of his automatic

  Photographic device

  Now I must keep my eye on him

  Keeping his eye on me

  This close up attention to detail

  Is taking the zoning system

  One f-stop step too far

  Wouldn’t you agree, Ansel?

  It may be a contradiction

  To say this over-exposure

  Develops to project

  A negative image of me

  Making my actions transparent

  When I wish to remain low-key

  4. Wilderness

  Despondency, anxiety

  Rice fields bear no rice

  Fat Cats’ grain stores taunting me

  My glass half-empty now

  I toiled long hours; prepared the ground

  Seeds I planted prospered

  The sprouts I nurtured spread too thin

  Too few and far between

  Alarm bells rang; I overslept

  My clock was running slow

  The rain fell hard; too hard for some

  Perished plots bear witness

  The rice I reap will make me rich

  Christmas harvest bonus

  But drought has come to visit us

  The worst we’ve seen in years

  A vision, a recurring dream

  Parched grass that bears no grain

  Phuket’s tsunami in reverse

  The carnage in its wake

  5. Fishing Chips

  Up North

  where I come from

  where, when it’s not raining

  it’s overcast

  and people say

  what they mean

  and they mean

  what they bloody well say

  eating out means the Chippy.

  Not Fish Bar

  or Fish Shop

  or Fish ‘n’ Chip Restaurant

  We’re talking real Fishing Chips

  (are fishing chips, chips that catch their own fish?)

  They don’t do

  French fries

  pommes frites

  Nouveau Cuisine

  Not our cup of tea

  They don’t do

  mayonnaise dip

  they only do

  salt and vinegar

  Economy gastronomy

  cheap at half the price

  cheap as chips

  If it’s a big fish you’re after

  for the larger appetite

  they also do

  double portions

  twice the chance to catch that fish

  twice as many fishing chips

  fishing…?

  (Should have seen the one that got away!)

  Fishing chips catch

  Haddock, Cod

  (complete with rod

  hook, line and sinker?)

  Or, if you’re feeling flush

  even Plaice

  Mushy peas can be added

  Bread and butter

  and a mineral

  Tea is served every night

  at six o’clock

  (Unlike the Americans

  we eat dinner

  at dinner time

  noon)

  Fishing chips for Friday tea

  wrapped in greaseproof

  and newspaper

  up North

  where I come from

  where, when it’s not raining

  it’s overcast

  6. Work Song

  Strange town

  Longsight M13

  What difference does it make?

  Working 9 to 5

  Money for nothing

  A means to an end

  The hardest thing in the world…

  Something better change

  I don’t like Mondays

  Help!

  I wanna be sedated

  (Yeah, yeah) Industrial estate

  Acknowledgements:

  Work Song –
Cannonball Adderly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBxAC4ywaJ4

  Strange town – The Jam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4tEX8tm6qw

  Longsight M13 – Ian Brown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV70kw7S7xQ

  What difference does it make? – The Smiths https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5DE8UQnM5Y

  Working 9 to 5 – Dolly Parton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpKAA2VxWY8

  Money for nothing – Dire Straits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5ZEzWwKJnY

  A means to an end – Joy Division https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPG_TCX2Z0k

  The hardest thing in the world - The Stone Roses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLser2OWa74

  Something better change – The Stranglers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSEOzimKnEY

  I don’t like Mondays – The Boomtown Rats https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er5uuCYi7q4

  Help! – The Beatles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU7JjJJZi1Q

  I wanna be sedated – The Ramones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rxJroWIg1Y

  (Yeah, yeah) Industrial estate – The Fall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKECj238-Lo

  7. No Short Cuts; Always The Scenic Route

  Yesterday; a day of broken promises

  Ineffective guarantees, followed immediately by disclaimers

  Same old same old Rat Race

  Old too soon? Long time Dying?

  Life is tough; deal with it!

  Today, I choose a different path

  No short cuts; always scenic route

  As sure as day follows night

  Tomorrow follows today, bringing fresh hope

  The best is yet to come

  8. Digital Display

  At first clumsy, hesitant

  Words wouldn’t come easily

  Until a single-digit surge

  Under pressure, from the Right

  Delivered the message LOUD – unclear

  Syllables s-s-stuttered across the screen

  Middle finger soon joined index

  And later thumb....... for spacebar

  Later still, five fingers were tapping

  Was it the sound of one hand clapping?

  Or was it just a classic case

  Of the left hand never really knowing

  What it was the right hand was doing?

  At every opportunity then

  I practiced my new-found skill

  The only thing I could ever do

  With one hand tied behind my back

  Day after day

  Night after night

  Time after time

  Time and again

  Again and again

  Repetition, refrain

  Repetition defined

  Definition refined

  Never relaxing

  Often head scratching

  Sometimes nail biting

  Always typewriting

  Left hand going through the motions

  Playing an occasional cameo role

  But even two decades down the track

  The left hand still doesn’t really know

  What its partner, the right hand is doing

  9. Unwanted Gifts

  The vastness of space

  Is not nearly enough

  To contain all those gifts

  Unwanted

  Ignored

  Or returned unopened

  Consideration

  Love

  Peace

  Compassion

  Faith

  Hope

  Charity

  To name but a few

  In favour of thought

  Ignorance is bliss

  Apathy prevails

  Hatred

  Hostility

  Cynical attitudes

  Suspicion

  Despair

  And self-serving greed

  Only if we take

  Possession

  Ownership

  Of what’s rightfully ours

  But wrongfully spurned

  Then

  And only then

  Can we realise

  Our full potential

  Certain in the knowledge

  All things are possible

  10. Recession Persists

  State of the art premises

  Cutting edge machinery

  Microchip technology

  Computer Aided Design

  A world class management team

  And a highly skilled workforce

  A winning combination

  A recipe for success

  One ingredient missing

  … The Mother of Invention

  11.Number’s Up

  Wake up O-seven O-O

  Bathroom, for a number one

  Or maybe a number two

  Then four minutes in the shower

  At forty five Centigrade

  Breakfast – bet you can’t eat three

  Cup of coffee, zero milk

  One sugar… stirred to the left

  Twelve paces to the front door

  Into my four door saloon

  A sixteen hundred cc

  Five forward gears, one reverse

  Some take the ninety nine bus

  Arrive at work eight thirty

  Day starts at nine on the dot

  Ends at five, or thereabouts

  Then back home, to Number Nine

  Takeaway dinner tonight

  Chinese, number forty two

  Pork in green pepper, black beans

  Two or three glasses of wine

  Then up thirteen stairs, to bed

  And I don’t mean forty winks

  Morning, back to the grindstone

  Five days a week, forty hours

  Fifty two weeks every year

  Until I reach sixty five…

  Then, one day… my number’s up…

  12. Thanksgiving

  Although not American

  On this day, especially

  I have reason to recall

  And reasons to be grateful

  Funny how you remember…

  (Some things, you just don’t forget)

  Must be fifteen years ago

  … Seems like only yesterday

  You didn’t ask me for it

  But I knew you wanted it

  You didn’t even say it

  But it was clear you meant it

  Just an item of clothing

  But you folded it, neatly

  Tucked it into bed with you

  Probably dreamt about it

  It was such a privilege

  I’m eternally grateful

  For having witnessed such an

  Expression of gratitude

  13. Workaholics?

  Only just awake if truth be known

  Still hung-over from last night’s session

  Pen in hand, and a freshly inked nib

  I check-in my pal, another lush

  so the boss won’t know he’s passed out, drunk

  We blame the clunk and thud of presses

  (and the Coalition Government)

  for a condition that resurfaced

  when we thought it was under control

  We’ve both spent time at de-tox session

  Been named, shamed and dragged over the coals

  Forklifted from the ash-pit, hand washed

  and hung over the boiler, to dry

  Still we don’t seem to understand why

  the consumption of alcoholic

  beverages is prohibited

  while operating machinery

  14. Untouchable

  Morning, bathed in rays of golden sun

  Met her for a sink or swim showdown

  Hoping we could pool our resources

  Shall we synchronise watches? I try

  Should have gone to greater lengths than that

  Am I in her thoughts…? Won’t hold my breath

  Learn to crawl before you walk; she laughs

  That would take a stroke of luck; I think

>   One of us may have to take a dive

  Which will send me right back to square one

  Passing on the water; ships – that’s us

  In her presence, I’m out of my depth

  She’s aloof; Madame’s a butterfly

  Floating freestyle through a crowded room

  Clutching secrets to her heaving breast

  15. Starter’s Orders

  You'll always be at least one step behind

  Don't ever let it out of your sight

  You'll never get ahead of it

  So aim to catch up with it

  And if, and when, you do

  Grab it with both hands.

  With all your heart

  Cherish it...

  Own it...

  On your marks...

  Get set...

  Go...!

  16. The Beginning Of The End

  It's starting

  Just beginning

  When will it finish?

  Where will it end?

  From start to finish

  From beginning to end

  It's starting to finish

  Beginning to end

  17. Seconds

  Floor level base

  Place name; City Row

  Income generation;

  Class act skin gear fiddle

  Time around World War year

  'Lieutenant' in command

  Sight person sitting

  Interview, rate chance

  String thoughts

  Form opinion

  Best guess

  Helping hand

  Coming home to none

  18. Tardist

  What’s a Tardist?

  What’s it got?

  What’s a what?

  What’s a Tardist?

  Not a ‘what’

  No it’s not

  It’s a ‘who’

  As in Time Lord Doctor Who

  Who’s a Tardist?

  You say Doctor Who is a Tardist?

  Doctor Who is only The only Tardist

  Pilot of a Time Machine

  No less

  Tell me you can see what I mean

  Oh yes

  To drive a TARDIS

  Is not the hardest task to face

  Regardless of Time and Space

  In any case

  They’re mere dimensions