Fame

As a child he would practise his autograph;
sign the front pages of novels as though he
were the author.

He sometimes arranged photographs
onto his bed in the order they would appear
in his autobiography.
He kept a daily diary as a memory aide
for when he came to write it.

When he was home alone he would grease
his hair with his brother's gel
strap on his sister's guitar
and strut around the house
like Jimi Hendrix.

When he played football for the school
he would convince himself that the man
by the trees with the rolled up newspaper
was a talent scout.
When he got home he would ask his dad
if Brian Clough had called.

He always treated girls well
in the hope that when they sold their stories
to the press
they would speak of him favourably
and reveal their despair
it hadn't ended in marriage.

As he stands in the park
scooping his dog's shit from the pathway
he hopes that the couple approaching
may mistake him for an aged actor
or maybe the man who reads the local news.