Telephone Girl – 25th November 1984

Ring, ring ‘Hello, is Angela there?’
My mind is spinning in despair
‘Could you hold on for a mo’?’
Please hurry, cos I must go
Anxious seconds tick away
I run through what I have to say
I put the phone down cos I must leave
I look up and breathe a sigh of relief
Telephone girl, you frighten me
Maybe it would help if we could see

8th August 2023 – Angela appears in my 1984 diaries but both Rupert and I don’t recall who she was! Just think what might have been (if this poem reflects a real event)? I wasn’t even brave enough to chat with a girl I fancied on the phone. And as to the prediction in the last line, now that we can see each other on our phones, I don’t think this would have helped at all!

28th May 2024 – Submitted to FOWC with Fandango

Charm Alarm – 24th November 1984

As you slide past you touch my side
You float so casually as birds in the sky glide
Eyes meet for the first time, you set my alarm
How can I miss your smiling charm?
Your foot is tapping to the musical beat
I knock back a drink to cool down the heat
The feeling’s strange, you radiate charm
But I feel like I’ve got a needle in my arm
The words are spoken ‘Where shall we go?’
And your charm still sparkles as you say no
That needle pushes deeper into my arm
And I turn off the bell of my charm alarm

7th August 2023 – During my upper school (junior high) years my self-confidence slowly decreased and got even worse after leaving school. I’m not sure what contributed to this beyond my undiagnosed depression. I guess there were many factors and I was also of the feeling that I wanted a girl to like me for who I was, not just because it was part of a chase for sex and consequently, I missed many opportunities. I never initiated anything, always waiting for the girl to make the first move. I felt this was respectful. It was the general consensus at the time though that girls didn’t do the initiating.

Kicking The Habit – 21st November 1984

Got to kick this awful trash
Got to stop this horrible mess
This habit is alive and kicking
Got to stop it from sticking
My head is spinning around and about
I just wanna stand up and shout
I should just reach and grab it
If I want to kick this habit

3rd Sept 2023 – Although not specific to any addiction or habit I’m pretty sure I was already wishing that I could stop smoking sometimes. It would be another ten years or more before I finally managed to quit.