Not absent - still here!
Keep Calm and Carry On Poeming. 😂
I work spotlight for a club in London;
It provides a cabaret, food and girls
Complete with champagne as a companion.
(I work there - I'm not about to tell tales).
The term companion will have to do,
I'm minding my own business anyway.
I know the world fairly well, as should you;
Those private interactions - who's to say?
The floorshow’s glitzy but right for the place;
With songs and dancing girls it moves quite fast.
The charm it has is all on the surface
We’re kept busy then it’s over at last.
It’s midnight when that early show is done.
Simon works control board and leads our brood
(Two spot operators of which I’m one)
Straight off to the kitchen to find some food.
From lighting gantry to our meal we all
Navigate down a passage lined with thighs,
Where short skirted women await a call
And I attempt custody of my eyes…
Onward to the kitchen to find that food.
Tonight it’s pasta nicely under cooked;
And away from the gantry’s heat it’s good-
It was the Chef’s best option when we looked.
Over the coffee which is made quite strong
There’s discussion, argument, jokes to tell.
Caffeine saves us as the night’s fairly long;
We three blokes though quite different get on well.
Simon is hip – he’s John Lennon’s double
With shoulder length hair and steel rimmed glasses.
I’m straight looking but we’re not in trouble;
Simon is cool man, this is the sixties.
Back to the second show, the final burst.
An hour later we’re done for the night,
So late with no way of slaking a thirst.
The women stay on - legs there to daylight.
I’m saved a hard night on Euston station
(It’s late - no trains to my place at this time).
Simon’s very kind – his invitation
Rescues me from a mainline bench’s grime.
I accept his invite without a fight -
Off to beanbags in his communal pad;
I’m warm dry and safe on Saturday night,
Saved from some discomfort that could go bad.
Forty years on a particular song
Turns up on radio - I’m transported
Back to that gantry’s heat which is still strong
And the seedy buzz which has not muted.
-
Author:
Doggerel Dave (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: January 23rd, 2021 19:42
- Comment from author about the poem: Very late '60's - early '70's.
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 27
Offline)
Comments5
"And I attempt custody of my eyes" - what an excellent line! - out on stalks i imagine.
A good read, we all have interesting past lives it appears. Did you know Orchi and his dog were archers at the battle of Hastings where a wounded King Harold taught him to sing. Kept an eye on him.
So why did yer emigrate? It was a bit late for those prison ships.
Hi dusk. I’m absolutely certain that out there (I mean here) most people have interesting lives – they just don’t want to versify it the way I do. But I’m no good at metaphor etc…so this is what I dish up.
You have to remember that it was the 60’s and skirts had only very recently crept up over the knee. But now, after all this time….I still have to make the effort…
Emigrate? Got dragged out here age 13. Did my adolescence in sweaty North Queensland. Disturbed? Yes, probably.
Now I'm seriously worried about your corrupt self. You were working in a soho sleaze joint at age 13 when you were dragged off to Oz.... I trust you were dragged, not wearing drag (couldn't resist that one)..... show us yer knees to prove it..... you're in serious trouble if you've got carpet burns on ya knees.
Too late to be worried, matey. If some of them religious we have here are, by any vague chance right, then Hellfire and Damnation are bound to be my lot....
Those times of the sixties were so wonderful, I was there and yes I remember them dancing the night away in my new suit with the collarless jacket aka The Beatles. Wonderful memories that can be brought back with a song.
Andy
Didn't see you there, Andy - I would have put the spot on you if I had known. How were the girls? 🙂
Dave
Wow - what a well written tale of your experience of nightlife in London - - I logged onto the same poetic description of you taking custody of your wandering eyes Dave - an engaging read and am so glad I caught your impressively rhymed story of back-along.
Thanks a lot Fay - I do hope I\'m not boring you...?
Not going to get better though, so hold on to your hat!
Say it like it is or woz why dont'cha
This is brill Dave & I aint talkin fish ...
Neville
Another resurrection! - Wot can I say? ..... Oh Yeh - Thanks Neville...
............................. will maybe start to call you Lazarus 🙂
N
Aw, don't big note yourself, will you Jesus? But by all means carry on quietly doing what you do so well..................................................................................................................................................... 🙂
An interesting experience and one to file away in memories library. They say our experiences make us who we are. A great story.
Yes, it is a rich well remembered period in my life.
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