Espionage and Exchange

Drug abuse
self abuse
the perfect way to start a Saturday
then some coffee
and a glance out of the window

Went to the exchange shop
I gave a girl with green hair
forty three old CDs
that I found in my Mum’s loft

The girl went through them diligently
I waited and
looked
at the two headed dog on her t-shirt

After about ten minutes
the girl gave me the option of store credit
or cash
I took cash
£4.91
needed bus fare
she also gave me back one CD
‘The Very Best of Max Power’
the one with the picture
of Jordon
on the cover
it wouldn’t scan
I could understand that

It was raining when I got outside
so I stepped up my pace
walked through Boots like a band leader
then into the crowds of W H Smith
there
I pretended to look at a Gordon Ramsay audio CD
and slipped Jordan’s
puffed protruding pout
onto the shelf
stealth
like I was planting some sort of
whore intruder spy

I hoped that in some kind of CD world
she could somehow
manage to infect
the celebrity cheffing,
Yoga teaching,
opera belting
morning talk show grins
around her

I had visions of Auntie Linda
taking a copy of Alan Titchmarsh reading ‘Rosie’
only to find him
sore and dripping
“Gosh! There’s a whore in here!” she would exclaim

After planting the bad seed
I went upstairs and bought a pen
and a brown notebook
then got on the bus
and smiled
as I listened to the water on the windowpane
and wrote this