from PATTAYA TRADER 108 (A)

ON BANGS A BELLE
I can tell the girl isn't English,
she speaks the language far too well.
Verbs right, grammar correct,
her slang also is bang-on-the-bell.

What will become of poor Britain
while Time and the Thames river flow?
A bon voyage to well-versed men
from London Town and - yes - to Bow.

A BALL BELLE
Waltz me, waltz me,
belle of the ball,
right round the room
out into the hall;
you are more than a flower
made for the wall.
Waltz me, oh waltz me,
belle of the ball.

Waltz me, oh waltz me,
belle of the ball,
to the foot of the stairs
from here in the hall;
time for us to heed, girl,
the quick tango's call,
so waltz me, waltz me,
belle of the ball.

YES-A-PINK-ROSE-WINE-PLONKIE-
ARE-YOU
Looking through the bottom
of a rose-tinted wine-glass,
this sort of a summer
was not brewed to last.
 You're like the cigarette
that is turning into ash.
Life's not moving along,
you are dwelling in the past.

It is not that easy
to make a very new start
when you wake to the morning
with a broken heart,
and the wintry days too long.
Too long and cold and dark
and the roses all gone
from their beds in the park.

YES-A-ONCE-POETICALLY-CALLED-
ALBION-IS-NOW-SURELY-ANCIENT-BRITAIN
Let us talk about Albion,
a country mainly black and blue.
Yes let us talk about Britain
and its many dole-queues.

Let us talk about gin,
tea-cups, leaves on the lawn,
the page-yellowing classics
and cannon-fire at dawn.

Let us talk about pit-helmets
and the disused power-station,
the violence at our bus-stops
and our vile self-degradation.

Let us talk about these
under-very-old-summery-English-skies,
and-about-the-supermarket-checkout-girl
with-the-cute-Pelican-Romantic-eyes.