Poetry is Painless 3

By Chandima Nethisinghe


 
Sooner

I'm getting ready for
A date at eight
I can't wait
I will be pulling out my hair
Wondering what to wear
Could I look any cuter?

Tonight, you will find me
At home by the phone
Or pacing round my room
Waiting for you to ring
While opening a tin 
Of tuna

I wish that you had told me.... sooner
I just wish that you had told me.... sooner

Finally the phone rings
I rush to make it hush
The voice I hear on the other end sounds lush
You're now going out with Kate
And you're canceling our date?
You prefer her?

I wish that you had told me.... sooner
I just wish that you had told me.... sooner

Later with Jools Holland 
Lying dead in my bed
With my eyes all red
I have a splitting headache
Thanks to you, you snake
Now I'm thinking about you and her....urgggh

I wish that you had told me.... sooner
I just wish that you had told me.... sooner




I've got to stop myself eating

I've got to stop myself eating
I'm going to have to gaffer tape my mouth up
I can now eat so much food
That I forget when I'm full up

I've really got to stop eating
It's just getting so out of hand
I stuff myself full of all kinds of junk
And need to loosen my waistband

I really must stop myself eating
I've eaten so much today
I really must start on a diet
And get going without a delay.

I still haven't stopped eating
My diets they never do work
But now I've eaten so much 
That I appear to have gotten stuck

 


Righteous

You, you're looking good
You're looking great
You normally look 
A right state
Is that really you?
No way
You look fab
What else can I say but 

Wow, you look so righteous today
What
With your hair tied back that way 
and
Wearing my favourite grey 
t-shirt

Sexy t-shirt and 
Oh my god you shaved.  
And smell wonderful
Yay
I can't believe 
You'd scrub up so well
I want to run up 
To you and tell you

Wow, you look so righteous today
What
With your hair tied back that way 
and
Wearing my favourite grey 
t-shirt

The whispers rise
And I can guess
That they're saying
"Doesn't he usually look a mess?"
With a smile 
You walk my way
Now I have to think 
Of something to say

Other than...
Wow, you look so righteous today
What
With your hair tied back that way 
and
Wearing my favourite grey 
t-shirt



 
Nagging Song

She comes back home with a sigh
To find him on the sofa, getting high
Why aren't you at work?  She sounds tired
He turns to her and says 'I just got fired'

Oh my god
That's the third job
You've been dismissed from 
Are you f***ing dumb

You always nag
Get off my back
It's such a drag
I got the sack
.... So what?

He'd sit on his bum like a slob
For the next 3 months without a job
She sits herself down, tries not to cry
As she wonders how they're going to get by

Can you explain why
You don't even try
To help me out
She started to shout

You always nag
Get off my back
It's such a drag
Are you on the rag?
... You've lost the plot.

She pours herself a drink
And sits down to think
Tries to look at the big picture
But ends up just giving him a lecture

.............
Moan moan, whinge, whinge, Rabbit rabbit
Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag, NAAAAG
.............

She's finally shut  her trap
It's his chance to fill the gap
He thinks carefully for a bit
About how to put it

You're talking out your arse
Men are from Mars
Women from some other planet
My pet

You always nag
Get off my back
It’s such a drag
Give me my fags
... And another shot


 
Little Peter's Concentration Camp

Little Peter was evacuated
Peter had to take his mother, brother and sister up to the concentration camp. 
His father had been dragged off to fight in the army, so he had to take on that role.
They walked for miles.  His brother was just a baby.
They didn't have nappies, or anything for the children.  
They had to make do with bits of newspaper for sheets, and to stop the baby from weeing on the people in the lower bunk.  
They left all their possessions.  They had nothing.
They were German.  
Post War.
They left the camp, and were put on a train to who knew where.  
The train broke down, and they found that they were heading for Siberia.  
Good job they started walking in the opposite direction.
Can't imagine how they survived.
How did people ever survive?
Little Peter came back
His house had been taken over by 3 families.
He had nowhere to live
He went to the authorities
They gave his family a top floor flat to live in.  
A flat without a roof. 
So little Peter had to sleep with an open umbrella in his hand to keep the rain off him as he dreamt of a world where his suffering would end.
 




Sadness

I watch from my drivers seat, 
As you slowly tread, 
kicking up dead autumn leaves.  Your suit swallows you, 
Your tie throttles you.  
I know how you feel.

Chorus
_______
The world is on our shoulders
We're drowning
We're dying
We're getting pushed out.

I see you at the bus stop
Your sad eyes say it all
But no one is listening
Your back hurts
Your head hurts
I know how you feel

Your bus is pulling up
You dig in your pockets 
But can't find the right change
They'll hate you
They'll leave you
I know how you feel

The lights change
I pull away
Leaving your sorrow
I feel empty 
You feel empty
I know how you feel

 


Fear

Fear came over me
It was the kind of 
Watching your job fly 
out of the window 
kind of fear
The kind of fear that 
ate you up from your toes 
up to your neck, 
trying to reach your face, 
but just burning, lingering, 
trying to get to the top of you, 
but terrorising the rest 
of your body more 
just to compensate.
 




Usual time, usual place

Usual time, usual place
Save me a parking space
See you around 8 or 9
I'll try and get there on time
 
Usual time, usual place
Off down the M25 race
And when my drive finally ends
It'll be time to watch Friends
 
Usual time, usual place
KFC to stuff my face
At 6pm I'll be on my way
Catch you later Babe
 



11 September 2001

It's like yesterday was a normal day, 
I went to an Aikido class, 
and today, 
today is like the start of a war.

The view from the top of the Twin Towers 
of the World Trade Centre is gone.  
It was there only 12 months ago.  
I was there
I imagined the eager tourists 
who had made it to the top floor by that time, 
staring out at the view, 
maybe seeing a plane, and thinking 
"That shouldn't be there should it?"  
Or just "What the fuuuuu....."

Chaos reigned 
People who never bothered about the news much 
paid attention, 
web sites crashed.  
Chaos wasn't beautiful.

Brave faces and fake smiles 
adorned our faces the following day.
 


Intangible

Can't see you
Can't hear you
Can't smell you
Can't touch you
Can't taste you

Incapable of being perceived 
Incapable of being defined.
Incapable of being realized 
Incorporeal, insubstantial.

Lacking material form 
Lacking  in substance.

You're an immaterial girl.
You have no material body 
No material form.

My dream
My vision
My love 
My heaven
My paradise
My ecstasy

I am of no importance, relevance or consequence
Just irrelevant to you.


 

Server room romp

He winks at me
He smiles as he leaves
At least he drank
His cup of tea

One hand in the pocket
Of his leather jacket
He strolls out the room
Knowing I want it

With him now gone
I know it's wrong
To think about him
But I've know that all along

I imagine him and I
Alone in the office at night
He gives me a sly look
Catching my eye

Conversation erupts
As he moves close up
Talking computers and stuff
But it's all a cover up

He moves in closer to me
Then starts the kissing frenzy
Hot and passionate within his arms
He remembers he has a key

He takes me to the room
Where the servers moan
And the air con is on
So it's really cool

In a jungle of caged cable
He shoves papers off a table
And presses all the right switches
Till I'm uncontrollable

A tap on my shoulder startles me
As I'm asked if I want a cup of tea
I sit before my monitor
Wishing it wasn't just a dream