Ian Seed on the Other Side of the
Cigarettes and Coffee
Quarter to three in the morning,
Otis’ voice from the mantelpiece,
shadows on faces
cut from old magazines:
Otis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry…
You light a cigarette from the fire,
shake your head like a preacher.
Forget those bastards the Beatles.
You turn your hands in the glow,
palms soft and white.
Never done a day’s work in my life,
never fucking will.
Listen. You get up from your bed,
sing Cigarettes and Coffee
as it’s never been sung, bow
as if the world was watching.
© Copyright Ian Seed 2006