Dandy

He used to skulk
in top hat and tattoos
slouching in a coat
that Wilde once wore

he had shoes
of bin liner
a fob watch of gold

he coughed
hand me down
cigarettes
drank Poormans sherry

i spoke to him
once
as the sky cracked

told me he was a tinker
that he had known love

she had been an acrobat
a tumbling star

'Finlays Circus of the Torrid'

a show
popular
with men
and midget hawks

but she vanished
on bareback
with horseshoe Shane
a man who could
make her stand
on her head
after hours

how time stabs

he died last week
this Dandy

on the street
hunched in a ball

his blankets of
tuesdays telegraph
blown away

delivering
unbearable news
of murder

in his breast pocket
they found a
sepia memory

a one legged girl
flying through the air
with the greatest of unease
an uncomfortable smile
prepared
for a crash landing

his gold fob watch was still ticking