‘Poo-tee weet!’
– The whistler –
While taking a stroll, up to the dole
On a seaside afternoon fair
I pace the space, with haste, not grace
And place a tune on the air
The notes I legato, with too much vibrato
Are spontaneous harmonies plucked
From an infinite array, of pitches to play
And a selection of tones, blown and sucked
‘Wee widdely wee wee, poo-tee weet’ (whistled proudly)
If I walk a straight line, the pitch cannot climb
My feet and the metre, may stagger or stray
But if I miss a beat, or we meet in the street
I’ve a bitch of a pitch, if you get in my way
Whatever the path, my tune shows the maths
Of the arcs I am taking, around people today
And this oral pursuit, lets the route, play the flute
In my spontaneous harmonic display
‘Wee widdely wee wee, poo-tee weet’
(A whistling solo frenzy which starts with a ‘hey mate’ whistle and finishes with a wolf whistle)
‘Wee widdely wee wee, poo-tee weet’
It makes me feel like I’m happier…
Than other people…
‘Wee widdely wee wee, poo-tee weet’
…Does whistling
‘Wee widdely wee wee, poo-tee weet’
An extravagant ‘hello’, back to a sunny day
Whatever day it is today
(Blinko stomps up some steps, enters a building and grudgingly climbs countless flights of stairs)
Uppity umpa umpa, umpa, umpa, uppity me
Uppity umpa umpa, umpa, umpa, uppity me
The melody survives, until I arrive
And enter through the front door
Past privates, of the security guard
And my brain, it works no more
It’s a trick, to be thick, or pretend to be sick
To the big lady, who must be fed
A ‘Wee widdely wee wee, poo-tee weet’
But quietly, in my head
(Sound of a slow umpah umpah played on tuba, to the sound of a sigh for every strained click on the keyboard)
– Wait for weight –
The speed of time, is one second per second
But that’s if your spacetime is flat
It goes much slower, if you sit near a fatty
But I’ve no time to think about that
(Blinko murmurs a chant to himself in anticipation of the same question he is asked every fortnight)
Last two weeks, in the
Last two weeks, in the
Last two weeks, in the world
Last two weeks, in the
Last two weeks, in the
(Miss Lomass asks)
In the last two weeks… done any work?
No
(She clicks once more, and looks towards him)
So Raymond…
…Please, call me Blinko
Sir, it is your scope
Widen it, and you will find
It will give you more hope
Schooled in basic sciences
Oh, and art, well that’s a start
Technical skills? Experience?
Had a-n-y… experience…. (leaning forward)
What, of the heart? (to himself)
Biology? You? Me? (murmured)
Ah, just some chemistry (aloud)
(Blinko imagines the fading sound of two out-of-sync heartbeats, as he continues to mutter to himself)
– War of three kingdoms –
Biologists think they are biochemists
Biochemists think they are physical chemists
Physical chemists think they are physicists
And physicists think they are gods
God thinks he’s a bright mathematician
But with all this uncertainty
Quickly, he learns that he
Needs to be a statistician
‘You’ may need...
…Cos, you can wave goodbye, to your functions (interrupting)
In this eternally collapsing circus
Where physics without thought, is chemistry
And maths, is physics without purpose
… You really, really, ought to concentrate more
Look, just please sign there (pushing a form in front of him)
And keep applying for three jobs per month
To continue receiving your welfare
Work done to date, aint great, so I can’t wait
To give you some assistance
No thanks, I’m fine
And ‘work done’, is force, multiplied by distance
Blink! You don’t care?
What the hell
Your welfare….
…Farewell!
(Sound of the door closing and Blinko counting as he descends the building)
Steps 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Turn 2 3 4
Door 2 3 4
Steps 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Back door. Go!
– The great skedaddle –
(A short 8-bar fast cartoon tune plays as Blinko legs it back down the hill. It slows to a walking pace as he exits a side street, and zig-zags through a children’s marching band)
Left, left
I had a good home, and I left
(The sound of spray paint being sprayed. He reads the fresh graffiti aloud, as it drips to the ground)
“There is no Planet B”
So, why deface this one, with graffiti?
(Sound of the approaching troupe of marching children singing a clapping song to military snare drums)
“Nature and nurture had a fight (clap)
Each one said that each was right (clap, clap)
Each one said that each was wrong (clap, clap, clap)
And no one knows what’s going on” (clap, clap, clap, clap)
“There’s no Planet B”
And “no one knows what’s going on”
(He mulls over the words in his mouth, aloud)
“No Planet B. What’s going on?”
A doom-aged generation, with ‘ideas’ too strong
Are they learned or instinctive? There all along?
If inherited, we must ‘all’, just be born wrong
But…
If such thoughts, are taught, by someone
Then, this folly
Deserves, a jolly
Song…
(Sound of the children’s marching band nearing again. Blinko hurries home, opens the gate, goes down some steps, enters, slams and locks the door. Before leaning against it, panting)