A VERSE OR TWO

‘You got the time?’ he said pointing at his wrist as I walked past on my way back to the flat carrying a regular chips from Rita’s.
‘Er,’ I said, ‘eightish, I think,’ and made to walk off then stopped and said, ‘hang on,’ took out my mobile phone then said, ‘it’s a quarter to nine.’
‘I thought it was about nine’ he said.
Softly spoken, wore a beard, he didn’t look me in the eye when he said, ‘I’ve been busking my poetry all day and earned twenty-one pence, can you help me?’
‘You’ve earned a bit more,’ I said giving him all the change I had.
Along Dove Street South thinking, ‘Was he humiliated by my not asking for a poem before giving the money or would it’ve been worse if I had asked for a verse or two?’

TRUE

‘That’s heavy breathing,’ he said from the diagonally opposite corner of the lift to me.
‘It’s that last little hill there,’ I said. ‘You get most of the way back and then there’s that last little hill to finish you off.’
He moved towards me, laughing, took hold of the lapels of my coat, pulled me towards him, said, ‘It’s worse when it’s cold.’
‘And,’ I said, ‘or raining.’
He let go of my lapels, stepped back, said, ‘That’s true.’

SKULL FUCK

skull fuck
hi, my friend painted the skull on top of the carriageworks, and we wondered if we might get the footage you shot of it be ing painted? there's an exhibition in london and we'd like to include the fotage in some way
thanks

Re: skull fuck
I can send you a copy of the film on dvd which is better quality than on youtube

Re: Re: skull fuck
That would be really cool or I could pick it up. You could leave it in the here shop if that's easy to do? I saw your magazine in there?
Thanks

Re: Re: Re: skull fuck
I've dropped a dvd of the film off at the Here shop
any problems let me know

TEE-SHIRT

After I dropped off the film I stopped at a stall set up on the pavement opposite the bottom of Ninetree Hill.
‘Is that PR?’ I said.
‘I’m his mother,’ she said and showed me the article in ‘Seven.’
‘You must be very proud of him.’
She wore a blue hat over grey hair. Blue eyeshadow, red lipstick. Heavy light coloured overcoat down to just below her knees, the collar pulled up against the cold breeze swept up Stokes Croft.
I was looking at mugs in a plastic box.
‘They’re ten pounds,’ she said when I said, ‘I want one of those.’
‘And the tee-shirts?’
‘Twelve.’
Back at the flat, football on the radio.
Later, in Kuvuka a woman played guitar and sang with a man on double bass. I dropped some coins in the bowl had a note said, ‘For the musicians.’
I crossed the road, bought a tee-shirt.
‘Medium or a large small,’ I said when she asked me the size.

STOKES CROFT 10AM THURSDAY 221107
just in case you missed it

SHOPPING

‘Thanks,’ she said as I held the door open.
She had five carrier bags full of shopping and a mirror about three by two she leant against the side of the lift underneath the floor buttons.
‘What number?’ I said and she told me.
‘This weather,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t mind the rain if it wasn’t so cold.’
‘I wouldn’t mind the cold if it wasn’t for the rain,’ I said.
‘This time of year makes it worse,’ she said.
‘You mean with all the shopping?’

‘’Horrible, isn’t it?’ he said and I said, ‘Grim.’
Waiting for the lift.
‘There’s a lot of traffic in town,’ I said.
‘Is there?’
‘Must be all the shopping this time of year.’
‘You think so?’ he said.

BEFORE SHE GOT OUT

‘I was glad when I saw you coming,’ she said as we stood waiting for the lift. ‘I saw that other man and I didn’t know him and I felt nervous, you know?’
‘I do,’ I said. ‘Sometimes I walk up to the top if i see someone I don’t like the look at the bottom. Hanging around, waiting to go in.’
A brief pause, I thought she might say more.
Then she did.
‘It’s miserable outside, isn’t it?’
‘I don’t like the rain.’
‘It would be okay if it wasn’t raining. It’s the rain makes it miserable.’
In the lift she said, ‘Is it noisy on your landing?’
‘No. Sometimes above me, and sometimes below me. It’s got a lot quieter recently, though.’
‘It has hasn’t it?’ she said before she got out.

WELCOME TO STOKES
I tagged this on youtube as experimental art.

LOST NOT LOST

It said it was M home on the screen of my mobile. I hesitated a moment then pressed answer.
She said she’d lost the dvd I’d sent her and wanted to find it before she called. I said I’d send her another one.
‘You know what’ll happen don’t you?’ she said. ‘That one’ll arrive then I’ll find the other one.’
‘Leave it on a bus or something, if you do.’
‘Anyway, I’d better go,’ she said. ‘He’s banging on the door so he must be hungry.’
‘I’m glad you rang,’ I said. ‘I thought I’d lost you.’
When I got home there was a message from her on my landline:
Hi it’s M, ok? sorry it’s been absolutely ages since I’ve been in touch, I’m really sorry, erm, I’m going to try, I’ll try you on your mobile as well so might talk to you later on, erm, on the mobile but if not I’ll try you again later on this evening, on this line, ok, erm, hope you’re well and everything and er, I’ll talk to you soon, bye bye

BROWSING

I wasn’t going to stop but I’d seen a bag I liked and thought I’d take a second look so I rode over when the traffic was clear.
As I leaned my bike against the window of the shop I saw him out of the corner of my eye. I hoped he hadn’t seen me, that he’d walk past.
‘Hello,’ he said.
‘What you up to?’ I asked, decided I’d have a conversation, not to’d be awkward, need an explanation.
‘Working in a kitchen,’ he said. ‘And I’ve just met a woman.’
‘Oh yeh?’
‘Yes. I’m really excited,’ he said. ‘And we’re going dancing later.’
We said goodbye and I went into the shop, take a closer look at the bag.
‘Can I help you?’ said one of the shop assistants, a young man.
‘No thanks,’ I said.
‘Just browsing?’
Not, “just browsing,”’ I said. ‘Browsing.’

ERG

I bought a book today : Dictionary of Difficult Words.
erg (eg) n. a unit of energy : the work done when point of application of force of one dyne moves one centimetre. -al, n. potential energy. -asia n. fondness for work. -atocracy, n. government by workers.

IS THIS STOKES CROFT?
Four and a half minutes of facing north up Stokes Croft at 4 o'clock this afternoon, Saturday, 10th November, 2007.

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER

She came out of Woolworth’s with the DVD, V for Vendetta, tonights viewing.
She said, ‘There was a woman with a child, five or six, holding a Disney dress, the woman, her mother, was going, was saying, she called her a little bitch, then said, “when your dad leaves you’re going with him because you make me sick.”
‘That’s the mother there,’ she said.
‘The one with the bag?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘And that’s the daughter.’

ALRIGHT

‘Alright?’ he said.
‘Alright,’ I said.
Double figures of floors later he said, ‘Cheers then,’ and I said, ‘Bye now.’
Through a corridor.
‘Evening,’ I said to the son of one of my neighbours as he stood with a friend waiting for the lift.
‘Alright?’ he said.
‘Alright,' I said.

Later I went to meet Daughter off the bus outside Debenhams. She was at the top of the subway steps when I got there.
‘Been waiting long?’ I said.
‘Just arrived,’ she said.
The two objects had been in one of the back corners of the lift on my way out were there on our way in.
‘What sort of person leaves a bone partially covered by a bib in the corner of the lift?’ I said.
‘I don’t know,’ she said, ‘but it’s disgusting...and unnecessary.’

DEFINITELY

The scene is an ascending lift.
The players: two men, one with a bike, one without a bike.
‘At least it’s warm today,’ said the man leaning against the inside of the lift near the door and who did not have a bike.
‘It was cold a couple of hours ago,’ said the man with the bike.
‘But not like yesterday.’
‘Was it cold yesterday?’
‘On the street it was,’ said the man without a bike.
‘Was it the coldest day of the year, you think?’
‘Definitely.’

NOT IN THE BEDROOM

‘Lovely day,’ I said to the caretaker in the lift on my way back up to my flat after putting glass and tins in to the recycling bins out front of the block.
‘Cor,’ he said, ‘isn’t it though. This time of year you can’t go wrong when it’s like this.’
‘That’s true,’ I said.
‘Keeps the heating bills down,’ he said.
‘I’ve not put mine on yet.’
‘Really? I’ve had it on in the living room a couple of times but not in the bedroom yet.’
He got out a few floors below mine, took the mop and bucket, the smell of disinfectant lingered.
We didn’t say, ‘Goodbye,’ to each other. He wore earphones to an ipod and I had a couple of carrier bags to fiddle with.

THIS TIME OF YEAR

‘You don’t recognise him do you?’ she said.
‘He looks a little different.’
‘We were standing by the fire,’ he said and pointed.
‘You could roast a liver on that fire.’
‘What was that about a liver?’ said the husband to the wife.
‘Something from last night,’ she said and turned away in disgust.
...a cold flush of shame...
...oh, how I loathe myself...
...fucking weirdo...
...why do I have to open my mouth, say things...
...if I never spoke to anyone again it’d save so much humiliation...
She held me, whispered in my ear, ‘I’m going back with them, there might be someone else, there might not.’
‘Are you kidding me?”
‘No,’ she said. ‘It’s a very unusual sighting this time of year.’

FIREWORKS

FOUND ENVELOPE WITH LIST

red wine
1 large pot
corguette
carrots
salad stuff
milk
tin of toms
pine nuts.
red pepper x 2
red onion

*Mums B’day card * (nice caird)
Dog food - tins or pouches.

BUILD A CHURCH THEN MOVE ON

As he drove us past the Downs the Greek said, ‘I don’t like fireworks, I saw enough in Jerusalem.’
‘When were you in Jerusalem?’ I said.
‘Nineteen sixty-seven, the Six Day war. The rockets went over the convent.’
‘The convent?’
‘The monastery. I was a young man training to be a priest.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, Franciscan,’ he said. ‘Bonaventura’s, you know that one? One of ours. The Brothers built it then gave it away. That’s what they do. Build a church then move on.’

13 DOWN
I know, but it's here now

PERHAPS

‘Is that enough milk?’ I said as I handed him the mug of tea.
‘Perhaps a little more,’ he said.
I poured into the mug a little more milk then said, ‘How’s that?’
‘Perhaps that’s a bit too much now,’ he said and smiled.
‘Oh,’ I said. ‘It’s so difficult to know how much milk to put in someone else’s tea. I don’t have any in mine.’
‘Perhaps we have the right amount between us,’ he said.


and for those of you wanting to read it in German

VIELLEICHT

"Ist das genug Milch? "Ich habe gesagt, wie ich reichte ihm die Tasse Tee.
"Vielleicht ein wenig mehr", sagte er.
Ich strömten in die Tasse ein wenig mehr Milch dann gesagt: "Wie ist das?"
"Vielleicht ist das auch ein bisschen zu viel jetzt", sagte er und lächelte.
"Es ist so schwierig zu wissen, wie viel Milch, um in fremde Tee. Ich habe keine in der Mine. "
"Vielleicht haben wir das richtige Maß zwischen uns", sagte er.