BarkerJones
Begging: a cab drivers opinion
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He's not poor, he has an ice cream,
he's healthier enough to smoke,
so he can get a job,
he's young.
​
2017 July, Malta, Graham Barker
Optimism
​
Yes,
Shit happens.
On the following day...
​
2017 London, UK, Graham Barker
Tea house
​
I know her
I think I know her
What do I know?
​
She's familiar
In an unfamiliar way
Of course
​
I have tried to specify her
But words fail to find permanence
Like paper tacks
​
She offers what is vital
But perhaps I don't listen
We're the last to leave.
​
2017 October, London UK, Graham Barker
Larkin around with Morrissey
​
They wallow in the mundanity of the everyday
Of every week, of every year
With the ambition of remaining the same
Their expectations kept low
To side-step the disappointment
From him, from her, the family
So-called friends
But it happens anyway
There's always broken glass
In someone's back garden
Someone's always to blame
And so the drama begins
Again. Again.
A TV soap series on a constant loop
Each day ending without resolution
To occupy their time for evermore
With things that matter most to others
Not themselves
It's what makes living so prolonged
And bereft of joy
During such times like these
When melancholia sits on their lap
Like an old wet dog that refuses to die
They'll watch the TV news
Seeking comfort from the crap hitting the fan Somewhere else
Far from here
It makes them feel better
At the very most.
​
2017, London UK, Graham Barker
Blah, blah, blah!
​
I imagine there will be an end to all this
Trouble and griping
It's hard to stay silent
Refrain from explaining away the lies
In fact,
I hope more than I imagine
Hope has more chance
Or is it the same?
Hope, prayer, wishful thinking
Cousins of pointlessness
​
2017 London UK, Graham Barker
Sweethearts
​
A girl in the queue looks back over her shoulder and gives a smile and a wink to her boyfriend who waits for her to bring the coffees. They've been separated for a whole 2 mins. Being apart at this early start of a relationship can seem so vast.
​
2017 UK, Graham Barker
Misunderstandings​
Relationships
of the intimate kind
Body and soul
Frequently, if not
Once in a while
Sometimes
More one
Than the other
​
They have a knack
Of stopping you
Dead
In your tracks
Losing the thread
Of a conversation
With oneself
On every occasion
​
It's only sometime later
You remember
What is sacred
To have
To hold
To lose
To defend
At all costs
​
Relationships.
I'd prefer to remain
An addition not a substraction
That doesn't ask
That I become
But what I am already
As I'm found
Is that too much too ask?
​
2017 October, London UK, Graham Barker
The following day
​
Black hair, shoulder length
Lilac cardigan
Emerald green dress with dark pattern
Bare legs, dark tea
Thin calfs
Beautiful
Black hair, shoulder length
Yellow ochre cardigan
Patterned dress with a purple flowers
Bare legs, dark tea
Thin calfs
A smile of recognition
​
London UK, Graham Barker
Sweethearts
​
We long for it
The sun, the heat
The long summer days
Something akin to the summer of '77
And,
Some years
Like this year
It arrives
And we indulge and turn red
After a few days we reminisce
And moan for the other
The opposite
What was before
That which was replaced
And so on
And so on
And so...
So changeable like the weather
We island folk
Always seeking happiness
Never content
Always craving for what we had only yesterday
Never appreciating today
As if joy is always locked into the past.
​
2017 UK, Graham Barker