ACHTUNG BABY!

This refreshingly quiet street
Round the corner from Checkpoint Charlie
A miasma of tourists taking selfies
Next to two fake American soldiers
Dressed in full cold war regalia
Beethoven’s Moonlight sonata
Keyed by unseen hands
Drifting through the lazy afternoon sunshine.
And you framed in the cafe window
Waiting for me.
*
All quiet on the western front these days
The almost musical sound of jackboots
No longer linger; no Stasi lurking
Berlin is no longer east or west
Just plain Berlin will do
*
Twenty five years ago this was no mans land
Then the walls came tumbling down
Almost by accident
A flurry of missed communications
Garbled orders; fearful guards;
People shouting
Let us out, let us out
And we on the west side shouting back
Let them out, let them out
And you shouting
Let me out, let me out
And it happened
*
Today a row of plastic flowers
Mark the line where the wall stood
Mark the spot where we met.
Someone is watering them I see
Making it more difficult for me
To come and tell you
That the cold war has returned –
For us anyway.

THIS ALSO BE THE CODE

Aflunters, babyshed, churching
Drizzen, exflunct, faffle, geo-graffy,
Hoined, infradig, jampher, knoop
Liversick, mafle, natkin, oblat
Penfellow, quackle, raddlings
Scalch, tazzled, umbeer, vagitus
Welwilly, xyster, yafle, zuggers

CITY OF GOLD

I walk this city of twenty-six year olds
With their narrow suits and three-o-clock faces
Their heads full of twitter-speak
And their pockets full of aces.
Cast die to self and follow number seven;
If I say a prayer for redemption
Will I get a free bus ride to heaven?

THE DINOSAURS DEBATE

Malky, have you got a chink in your armour?
I wouldn’t be surprised, Dave
The little blighters get everywhere
How many dogs did you keep in Cardiff, Malky?
More than enough to fill the team when I was there . Did you hear the one about the Brit, Malky? And the Paddy,
The Jock, the Taffy, the Jew and the Paki…
That’s racist, Dave!
Malky Cor blimey!
Are you sure you’re a Limey?