Special Guests

 

John Smallshaw

we’ll sell your youth
and
disguise it as
the truth,
but
isn’t that truth just
a bit
wide of the mark?

when the mark is the frame
selfies the game
and we’ll
play with your profile
until the next one
comes along with the
right smile

Hey
girls
while you think
yours is the
‘bang’
think your photo’s will hang
in some gallery
he thinks he’s in love
with
the pictures he thought
looked
like Valerie.

what you produce then
reduces them
to the
base,
the binary

when it’s all gambled on
the dress
which is fine and
then
She
selfies again,
and
he’s still looking for Valerie
in
the song that Amy sang,

So
is there any hope for me?
the old one
with the false teeth
and the carrier bag?

there
could be
I’m ahead of the game
no selfies
no mark and no frame
but
I’m just the same as them
or maybe
probably
not quite as tight as them
making the same slips as them
on the same trips as them
or
is that just a touch
of my age showing through again?
the fragile economy
of youth going through
the process of
growing up.