The Moving Finger Writes

On the windswept dales of limestone Karst

See Emily play

A romantic farce

Heathcliff searches

For a Wuthering lust

The window glass shatters

Life returns to dust

But true love never dies

As the darkness fades to light

My soul is yours to keep

Bill Burroughs is writing tonight

 

My love she sleeps in Cham

In a bed of Norwegian wood

My heart is buried somewhere

Under Dylan’s old Milkwood

 

On the melting tarmac of Kerouac’s road

The sun now rises

On Sal’s paradise load

Dean Moriarty sleeps

His heart trips a beat

Life it still creeps

But true love never dies

As the darkness fades to light

My soul is yours to keep

Bill Burroughs is writing tonight

 

My love she sleeps in Cham

In a bed of Norwegian wood

My heart is buried somewhere

Under Dylan’s old Milkwood

 

On the frozen streets of forgotten Oslo

Knut Hamsun he tries to write

But words are just a show

As the hunger eats within

From Kafka, Joyce and Camus

His life is full of sin

But true love never dies

As the darkness fades to light

My soul is yours to keep

Bill Burroughs is writing tonight

 

My love she sleeps in Cham

In a bed of Norwegian wood

My heart is buried somewhere

Under Dylan’s old Milkwood

 

On Woody’s slow railroad train

The hobos beg for dimes

His broken voice remains

In another singer’s song

His tune plays ever onward

Bound for glory all along

But true love never dies

As the darkness fades to light

My soul is yours to keep

Bill Burroughs is writing tonight

 

Rainbow of Friends

Sexuality should not define us

But society says it must

Too many friends within the closet

Their lives oxidised to rust

 

In my life of stolen moments

Good friends have all been gay

At first it was quite scary

In a world of bleak dismay

 

Come out now my friends and dance

Your life it is supreme

Don’t hide your love away

Behind some bitter Fascist scheme

 

Brave Andy was the first to dance

Back in queer bashing seventy eight

He came out to his parents

And faced their irrational hate

 

Cast out by those he loved

Alone inside his motor car

His body found next morning

Killed by a prejudicial scar

 

Come out now my friends and dance

Your life it is supreme

Don’t hide your love away

Behind some bitter Fascist scheme

 

Hiding in the closet Vicki, Jane and Hazel

Also loved to dance

They would boogie in a ghetto club

Whenever they had a chance

 

My house mate Trevor was the next to hide

His secret he was afraid to share

His father was an old coal miner

His black views were just unfair

 

Come out now my friends and dance

Your life it is supreme

Don’t hide your love away

Behind some bitter Fascist scheme

 

But time does not stand still

Liz and Nadine they were so brave

Together raised their wee son Thomas

With parent’s care and love to save

 

Some years along the road

My son’s friend talked of his two mums

The most wonderful of natural parents

They made prejudice seem quite numb

 

Come out now my friends and dance

Your life it is supreme

Don’t hide your love away

Behind some bitter Fascist scheme

 

The next to dance was close to home

My young nephew’s so camp and gay

It was no lifestyle choice, you faggot haters

So what’s that I hear you say?

 

Now this dance is almost over

But for Darren it was done too soon

He lived and loved with vigour

But now lies under a Mexican moon

 

Come out now my friends and dance

Your life it is supreme

Don’t hide your love away

Behind some bitter Fascist scheme

 

The Commuter

Down on Robertson Road

Where the white painted windows

Bleach in the autumn sun

The red-lipped lady steps forth

Umbrella in hand

Making her stand

On a journey she had now begun

 

Down on platform six

Where the old grey porter stands

Unsure of the line ahead

The fresh faced woman waits

Chewed gum at her feet

Waiting a seat

On a journey she always dreads

 

Down on bended knee

Where the ticket inspector calls

And the strap hangers hang

The nervous mother stares

An old man at her side

Taking a stride

On a journey with an urban chain gang

 

Down on Blackfriars Bridge

Where the swarm of people sway

And pigeons pick up the crumbs

The businesswoman now walks

Past the familiar gate

Testing her own fate

On a journey which her life succumbs

 

Sound and Vision

WHILE recording an investigative news piece for Bristol Broadcasting Community Radio last week I realised just how many of these type of pieces I have taken part in over the past 25 years.

From weekly newspaper updates for BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio Wales to the crazy days of 2004 when as a national Fans United organiser I seemed to be Live on BBC Radio 2, Radio 5 Live, Sky TV and various regional stations almost every day.

There are too many to count.

But, I am guessing there must be over 100 radio and TV clips of my voice out there somewhere.

Someone once said I had a face for radio… and it’s interesting, to me alone, how the early nerves disappeared somewhere along the way.

So I decided to gather together a few clips for posterity and my kids to laugh at in years to come:

Radio Five Live: Fans United to Save Wrexham FC Jan / March 2005

https://youtu.be/_piFAdrQCkE

https://youtu.be/o3JjxxwrLlw

BBC Radio Bristol: Editor Overcomes Child Abuse to Publish First Book of Poetry Nov 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2N2X7t7awo

Russia Today TV: Nov 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU_4qJHIasc&list=UUbGif2gxFLxGDxG9CeA_fvg

BBC Radio Bristol: The Death of Regional Journalism

http://radio4all.net/index.php/program/78059

BBC Radio Bristol: Masonic Conspiracy and the Deselection of Bill Hodgson

http://radio4all.net/index.php/program/84880

YouTube: Ice Bucket Challenge for Gaza: Aug 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9LvQf04jR4