The heat made the bins smell putrid
I’d had a drink and felt real lucid
Caught your wink and got the allusion
Though later fumbled the execution

Grew a beard, shaved my head with a razor
So I appear more intimidating
Saw ants swimming in your irises
But elected not to tell you this

Went to sea on a half hour leisure cruise
Out of Whitby it pitched as the weather turned
Grabbed the knee of a stranger then released
I’d abandoned my precious tiny niece

It’s summer and I can’t sleep
Cos the sun’s shining on my face
And I can’t pull the curtain the last peep
And a blackbird’s chirping its middle eight

Bike scratched and my arm bled
My dad screamed and went bananas
Briefly dazzled the crowd with my wheelies
From the gravel I blamed diabetes

Ice cream van at school sold illicit drugs
Hid deep in the cone of your snowball cup
By chance ordered speed but didn’t have the money
He retrieved the mini bag and didn’t think it funny

It’s summer and I can’t sleep
Cos the sun’s shining on my face
And I can’t close the curtains that last peep
And the blackbird’s chirping its middle eight

August, July and June
I’m perpetually confused
Once covered the glass
With cardboard and gaffer tape
Couldn’t tell if our eyes were wide or shut tight
Slept so deep; had visions and epiphanies
Saw a new life, new possibilities
But gaps grew the tape failed,
Neighbours voiced concerns
And the light returned, the light returned

We took the shortest crossing
Stood woozy on the rear deck
Engine fumes condensing
In my lungs, and in my French

It’s summer and I can’t sleep
Cos the sun’s beating on my face
And I can’t close the curtains that last peep
And somewhere a bird’s chirping its middle eight