Fragments of Papyrus

A Work in Progress
33

Those times too few…

I’ll write them as I think they would have been

when Kalliope’s primal scream

awoke her sisters 

sensing her son in torment

torn apart by impassioned women

urged on by Aphrodite

riddle me riddle

arm in arm jauntily

Dionysius and Ariadne

kicked a tin can along the pavement enjoying the noise 

they felt like making

peachie le nic has been cast in this play 

his wife Claire as Ariadne 

jilted by Jason

now making merry with this half-pint

who met her in a pub off the Edgware Road

where a younger crowd hung out

to me

pass

to me again

goal 

beautiful goal

    & the cow jumped over the moon

                                                           tra la

cut the wires of the abacus

twang

they looked at each other as if to say

where are we going?

In life?

he emptied his bladder against a wall

his bladder throbbing with grateful release

as arcs of steaming piss traversed the night air

a window opened

a policeman

a fine wall to piss against

let the piss spurt urgently like rampant garden hose

irrigation of brickworks

amidst the concrete and the choking weeds a pale flower slowly died

piss piss

gave back to the ground its debt of life

splashier piss

take aim at the window

alas, not enough pressure head left in the bladder

dying gurgle of fountains

turn the cocks off

zip

*

Tony Selina dropped by 9B Cabbell Street once 

when the nights were drawing in

we were hanging out in the kitchen

peachie was there

Claire making tea 

we were smoking and chatting

                      Charlie Waite    Jessica too

              Bob Ellis passed round a joint

Val waved it past after one quick drag

                        David Horne took her share

Sen was there also Yvonne

Tony Selina said

the sound of water heating in a kettle 

                              was what he looked forward to 

                  when he came home

        and Bob looked up from rolling another joint

                                said he’d been having tea that same afternoon 

with the Beatles talking about going on tour 

                    to take photos and over mugs of tea

                                    in a simple sandwich place

it was all very normal 

he said

                      &

Claire 

          brought Tony a cup of tea

  and Tony stayed awhile

            because she made a second pot

but then he had to go

                    he was unrequited in love then

Tony said Roughside was too remote

impractical for him                              

he chose to live at Robin Hood’s Bay

instead

at that table

every evening 

in the kitchen

seemed a feast

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                                          2025