I’m a sad case of extended distraction / inaction in action / a tractor with no wheels and no traction / I’m Jason Statham / on vacation / completely stationary / fast asleep and deep Zee trawling / while the baddies go crazy and kick the door in / driven loco by all the snoring / I’m Parkour with an emphasis on Park / I’m up with the lark / only in the sense that larks sometimes need the bathroom, too / I’m do as I say not do as I doze / I’m dead drunk on the bottom bunk of a booze cruise / I’m Tom Snooze / in Mission Impossible: Early Night Protocol / I’m unco in a Novotel / I’m a double-duvet creature feature / King Conked Out vs. Bedzilla / I’m a chinchilla / with my chin on the desk / so still I’m statuesque  / I’m slo-mo on the go-pro / I’m yes yes to more rest and hell no to Gym Go / I’m an unplugged YawnOMatic / I’m so sleepy I’m problematic / totally static  / I’m bow down arse up like the Titanic / the polar opposite of frantic / I’m zero jolts / silly millivolts / I’m Usain Bolt’s / pumas in a dusty shoe museum / late at night / the security guard grunting & shutting off the light / I’m Sleeping Beauty / wired to beeping computers / in a deep sleep study / where even the scientists are slightly sluggish / I’m drowsy & druggish / I’m REM symptomatic / Jimmy Jurassic / I’m Velocinaptors & Brontosnorus / maybe a T Rex / where T stands for Tired / comically attired / in blue & white striped flannel pajamas / falling asleep in front of a long and unnecessarily detailed natural history programme about alpacas & llamas / A SALUTARY STORY TO END WITH: Dr Foster went to Gloucester in a shower of rain / booked into a Travelodge / fifteen years later they need a court order to get him out

Where is the flag for a human being?
not the kind you endlessly run up
sundown to sun up
or use to cover the pleading & bleeding

Where is the flag for a person of this Earth?
not the kind you sternly salute
or go bid the guns shoot
or use to colour a sense of greater worth

Where is the flag for a life lived freely?
not the kind you ceremonially wrap
or medalled patriots clap
or hang behind a podium on TV

a flag that curls like the turn of hands in clean water
a flag that snaps like the claps of people dancing
a flag that swoops like the song of children laughing
not a flag then – a kite!
with a long, multicoloured tail that sparkles in the light
flying across the sun
for everyone

the minute I’ve got some free time
some one hundred percent, positively ME time
time to wander aimlessly in my head
and not have to think about all the things everybody wants me to think about instead

as soon as I’ve found the perfect desk
something sturdy but nothing grotesque
by a window overlooking a railway station
or maybe a park, a supermarket, or a seafood restaurant whose sign is a flashing neon crustacean

the moment I’m done with the weekly shop
the dogs all walked, my photos cropped
and I’ve toured all my social media
and I’ve followed up a whole number of fascinating and possibly useful stories on google and wikipedia

the second I’ve finished snacking
and jogging, and crunching, and tracking
and there’s nothing left on the weekly agenda
except to look at the possibility of getting some kind of healthy veg and fruit juice blender

THEN I’ll be ready to sit down and start
(this lack of free time really breaks my heart)