Poems on this day – 15th June 1988

Blind Date

Set up for a night with fate
Seeing someone on a blind date
You know it could be love or hate
So excited I just can’t wait
But I maybe in a state
Get out before it’s too late

Wonder

Wonder stuff from the wonder boy
Wonderful
Wonder-full
Of shit
Knew everything about nothing
But never failed to impress
Wonderful
Wonder-full
Of shit
Knew something about everything
Something more
Nothing less

Settle Down Lads

I beat up me mates
At the match last week
Got real pissed
And a curry to eat
Even though England can’t play
Great Britain’s gonna have it’s day
Hooliganism will lead the way
Britain will be great some day
Settle down lads
It’s the second half
Out on the streets
Let’s have a laugh
Kick his fuckin’ head in
One-nil
Smash his fuckin’ face
Two-nil
Britain will be great one day

Ache

Argh – good clean fun
Shower – bullets from a gun
Thorn – in my side
Born – screaming inside
I-ache
Argh-ache

21 Later

When you take a test
It is for courage and strength
Not for trust and emotion
When they are obsessed
Power is length and breadth
And deeper than the ocean
21 Hiroshimas later
Will we have learned our lesson?
21 later

Bough

Frank Bough
Don’t scoff
He needs the money
Selina Scott
Should be shot
Now that’s funny

Shame You Died (4 D Boon)

You brought love to the world
Gave us some kind of hope
When the chips were down
You could help us cope

Not Much

Not much going on right now
But they say a lot is too much
I’d like to try and walk alone
Don’t want your god-damn crutch

Follow That Car

High speed chase
Hand to wheel embrace
Sweat pouring down your face
Tyre rubber burns
Sixty mile-an-hour turns
Crashed – caught – learned

Telethon – 30th May 1988

Yes, the telethon was for a commendable cause
But the whole idea just made me sick
In our hi-tech world, it should not be necessary
To ask for more donations from the public
You can call it charity and that’s what makes us give
Because it’s to help less well-off people live
So what the fuck is our government for?
Once again, it seems to be the rich against the poor

30th May 2023 – As Flux of Pink Indians wrote – There’s enough for all of our need but not for all of our greed. I’m a socialist I guess? It just doesn’t make sense to me that as a singular group of beings we don’t help each other to all have a reasonably good life. I never liked charity for this reason. It felt to me to be a useful role of government to take care of everyone.

Survivors – 28th May 1988

*Woke up this morning, rubbed the dust from my eyes
Had to live again the life I despise
No use pretending I was born free
I was given eyes, but they’re not to see
Drew back the curtains to view the outside
And to my disbelief, I realised the world had died
Couldn’t understand why I was alive
And there was no one to hear my fear-fraught cry*

Been through pain and back again
We’ll survive to the end
Seen the hate confronting me
I will not concede

You’ll feel alive if you can survive

What you always wanted to be
Too hard to believe
Take your chance to be free
You will achieve

You just can’t convince me now
I have the right to feel so proud
You just can’t control my mind
I’m taking back what was always mine

*These lyrics were originally written by someone in Atrox (possibly Charlie Mason) for the song Is This Tomorrow…?