castaway

I’m Wilsaaaaaahn out in the wild sea drifting / slowly turning, rolling, lifting / smeary smile & bloody shanks / finally away from beardy Hanks / just me, the sky & the sea birds, thanks

And that’s me, scrawling in the sand with a stick / bawling when the sea creeps over it / wiping it slick / but at least the whole thing’s over quick / because time and tide wait for no one / from Donald J Trump to Frosty the Snowman / when it’s gone, it’s gone / there’s nothing to be done / the earth still rolling round the sun / Mars – corner pocket – in off the red / let’s put this cosmic dance to bed / this paper chain of teeth n’bones / remote controls & mobile phones / tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow / providence in the fall of a sparrow / Shakespeare had the whole thing sussed / basically life’s a busted flush / in fire we trust / I’ll dance on the beach, you pray if you must

the bully was back, it was a real fix
(friends in high places, politics)
no way would you just sit there
and be treated like the office chair
supine at the kick of a heel
or tossed out back with a dodgy wheel
it doesn’t matter how difficult the circumstances
it’s a world of opportunity & second chances
so – okay – here’s what you told me you’d do:
you’d axe a canoe
from a fallen tree
put to sea
collect rainwater in butts
live off turtle meat and fish guts
reach a sunny atoll
weave a rush parasol
find a cave, make it nice
grow beans, maize corn & wild rice
keep a charcoal calendar
and a parrot called Alexander
after Alexander Selkirk
a sailor who ALSO had petty disagreements at work
and was subsequently dumped in the South Pacific
– 420 miles off the coast of Chile, to be specific –
on a desert island called Más a Tierra
(thank you, Wikipedia)