Watching Columbo

It became normal to sleep in my clothes,
wake up on the settee
the last thing I'd remember
was flicking through late night music channels

or watching repeats of Columbo.
I rarely shaved,
the bristle always blunted
cheap razorblades.

If visitors wanted sugar in their tea
I would use sachets
swiped from cafe sugarbowls.
Once I took a sportsbag into Tesco
filled it with coffee and tinned fruit
and darted out

like a Nike swoosh.
"It was like having flu,"
I tell you
"it was like one of those dreams
where you fall from the roof
of a multi story car park
and when you wake you have pins and needles
in your feet."