2391 - Not so funny

I worked well today and after the end
I worked on a new comedy routine
I went down to the Salford Arms, intent
On performing, downed three pints of ale, e'en
Watched a few acts, but decided that scene
Was not the right one for my act, and so
Made my way back home. You know where I've been
But do you know where I am going to go?
No, no-one knows, no-one will ever know
What's in the future, so let's not pretend
That what is hidden from us can be seen
A reasonably good night, but a show
Based around music. I will have to spend
Time on songs to play there, so we will see

2311 - Machine gun

Coffee, TV, washing machine, flat, world
Consciousness, eyes, skin, hair, lungs, heart, liver
News, death but not birth, hate not love, it's old
But new to each unknown new-born seer
The forgotten have forgot they were here
They lost out being first, there was less then
Now there's too much, will cost the next lot dear
The difference between computer and pen
Technology has outstripped the human
It's smarter than its users and its world
But it still needs its users to give a
Breath of real life, a breath full of poison
Garbage in, garbage out, plug can't be pulled
Machines are our slaves, driving us faster

2285 - In the year 2285

Let's all imagine that we are alive
Far off into the future, really far
Imagine it's 2285
Mere 273 years
Into the far, really far-off future
Far out, as well, no doubt, if we could see
What it looked like on our TV screens here
Or what it will look like, more accurately
We'll have improved our natural body
We'll all be thin, yet muscle growth will thrive
Our houses or flats will be a theatre
Where we can design our own fantasy
With us as the lead actor. So we live
Out of touch with earth, trying to reach a star

2113 - Summer's horizon

It's been a hard day's work, though not too long
Came home cos Katy said she'd ring, and did
Her battery was low. Discussed timing
Of her move up here. Looks like August. Mid-
Year's better than winter's depths. Smiles miles wide
On that day when Katy and kids move here
Though some down there may be disappointed
At work I emailed the solicitor
About a case in hand, they've made severe
Threats to sue the Department. Yeah right! Wrong!
Try it and see just how far you get, bud!
After this, and some bank biz, it's guitar
Practice, and then, because of cold, staying
In to watch footy. Last night, my nose bled

1320 - The drunk guitarist

I’ve been playing my acoustic guitar
And though I say it myself, I’m shit hot
I don’t give a damn for folk near or far
Having a good time while I’m indoors, shut
Away: you can shut up, shut up, you lot
My friend is music, music is my friend
And that’s a friend I am so glad I’ve got
When the music is over, that’s the end
The end’s still somewhere up around the bend
And out of sight, unlike the brightest star
That won’t descend. You may have to go out
To find it, but for me it’s within. Send
For the music man. Talk’s cheap: this costs far
More, but now I think I have found the plot
Fri 16 April

1278 - Forever young

There is no soul, there is no afterlife
There’s only the central nervous system
And flesh and bone, and selfishness and strife
And politics and greed and religion
Desire to procreate daughter or son
Disguised as lust, which we can circumvent
By means of various contraception
Methods, though Catholics believe they’re sent
To hell if they do, but they’re not. Death’s meant
To improve, as opposed to stagnate, life
By means of gradual evolution
It’s possible that by intelligent
Science we may end up prolonging life
Indefinitely: selfish to the bone

1272 - On the mend

Am I happy? Well, true, I am a rock
An island, like Paul Simon says, content
But not truly happy. Still, it’s a cock
And bull story, this happiness. It went
As soon as it came, like the wind, a spent
Force, leaving a quiet calm, once sadness
Or rather, disappointment, had vented
Its spleen. The sheen of still, dappled waters
Are pleasing to float on, relaxed, unstressed
The anxious mind turned off, the ticking clock
Turned down, power restored to my consent
As to what happens and what doesn’t; blessed
Autonomy, only me to take stock
And improve life’s ingredients and blend

1223 - Uncertainty

Deciding what to do is a problem
In life; a billion possibilities
But not all paths are passable, and when
You start out on one, sometimes there’s a freeze
And you get stuck halfway, among the trees
Or treacherous slopes, icy surfaces
And sheer isolation. So do you please
Yourself, which is the hardest path, or base
Your journey upon sensible advice?
Stay in, go out, look up, look down, suspend
Plans, scrap them, or amend? And which of these
Is the right, the most appropriate choice?
Just fighting on, and hoping, in the end
Is the only way any of us sees

1216 - Tomorrow has come after all

I’m getting used to the year 2010
It’s like I’ve been sent into the future
It always does at New Year, true, but then
It just feels more futuristic out here
I keep expecting to see robots peer
From behind the TV or the sofa
I keep expecting to open a drawer
And pull out a replacement nose or ear
Or plug my head in, increase my brain power
Transport myself for an hour to Athens
Swallow a pill; won’t need to eat all year
And I’m not even in the old solar
System any more; can’t afford the rent
Some things will never change, at least that’s clear

1100 - Sonnet from the wrong side of the moat

This is the 12th century of sonnets
I'm now well into the middle ages
And I cannot tell you how much fun it's
Been to travel through time and verse like this
I'm still in the remote past; reminisce
If you will, knights, crusades, pox large and small
Black teeth and rotting gums received your kiss
Deep in the shadows of the castle wall
Today survival seems incredible
Under these harsh conditions, but then let's
Picture future beings saying of us
How did they put up with all this? Appalled
They'll note our short lifespan, cancer, war... Gets
The thumbs down, I bet. A time better missed?
Tue 8 Sept