I sometimes forget you exist
Elsewhere away from my eyes
My reminiscences my reveries,
My lips my touch my craving you live
A life teach music to youngsters
Struggle with demons passing off
As confidants, whilst you secretly long
To unmask them, defeat them,
Bring them down one by one curses
Suiting the character, my Mannish Boy
A bluesman imbued in rum entheogens
And smoke, your Fender Strat
Your one true lover as you walk,
From a jam session to a concert hall
In darkened green crocodile boots
Checking an old timepiece
Shielded in the pocket of a far too
Worn-out vest I tease you, while age
Presents itself with bills unpaid,
An aching shoulder a liver strained
A clouded mind, reflections of yellow
Sclera on pub bathroom mirrors,
Unshed tears, mourning the loss
Of your stolen harmonica collection
A faded leather case, inviting me
For Champaign and Reefer something
Psychotropic years have left behind
To entice, an enduring battle
Yet together for a moment we indulge
In pretending we are the only ones,
Wandering the city night streets
Dark corners car boots entrance halls
To homes, breaking into
Rome’s oldest cemetery slinking
Inside the Colosseum, counting stars,
Laying on grass paths of Imperial Fora
Sleeping on roof terraces until dawn,
For with light come our goodbyes
‘See you next time’ we return
To our lives, and that is when
I sometimes forget you exist
Elsewhere away from my eyes.
[Featured photo: Cold Shot concert, 2009]