Young Charlie Carr's got this tune running round his head( It’s Jambalaya - but he don't know that. He don't speak French.)Whistles it between his teeth over heater hum and Cadi purr.Don’t wanna wake The ManSweat-stetsoned in the back seatStaring eyeless at a desert focal pointAs a pallid dawn blurs by.

I wrote this short story a couple of years ago and it was subsequently published in Sand Magazine.It's based on a real event.

Breakfast is over.John Humphries is whispering in the backgroundA sawing noise comes from the gardenMum has looked through her Get Well Cards again.Now she’s planning her day.“What time are you leaving?”The voice is blurredEye contact imprecise“ About 12.30”She nods like she’s understood a foreign languageEverything is recordedIn her “Book Of Remembrance”:Lunch! ( S leaving at 12.30 )Look for holiday diaryGeraniumsPay JohnOutside I foot the ladderWhile my stepfather performs tree surgery on the

A rainbow Arch - perfect Catch its colours in the street names.Emerald. Ruby. GarnetWatch the pier dribble people out over the seaWhere surfers hurdle the wind-whipped breakersUnder a shark-shaped cloudWe walk the tidelineDig into conglomerated memories of seasidesMe an excited puppyScattering thoughts across the beachChasing every movement You digging deeperWith a pale sunlight smile.This is your place.Amber streetlamps pull the last light from the skyBut we grin like dogs against the biting

His redhaired son and Little Mermaid daughter are asleep A sea breeze whispers them goodnight KashmirWeaves with cigarette smoke and talkOut into the dark of the olive grove belowFar away in timeChristosFamily manSilversmith FriendShirtless we push the wine bottle and conversation forward and backward like chess pieces whileA mantis knits and watches from the warm wallWe’ve agreed that Sotirios Kyrgiakos has settled well with RangersAnd what the thing about women isSheila at his side tuts in the