Paul J Penton – Songwriter

Fragments & Thoughts July 4

AIRPORT LIGHTS

Dots of light
mushrooms
glowing in the dark
cat’s eyes and white lines
Red and white dots as I round a corner
Hazy yellow lights on lamposts
create star patterns on the windshield

COLLINS PLACE

a cathedral of modernity
an arching dome of light above me
sparrows come and sit
as I sip on English breakfast tea
they fly down from criss-cross lattices
and strange architectural squares
that must serve some purpose
suspended in the sky
like a PA stack at a rock concert

Businessmen
purvey papers
while supping down
cappucinos
feigning disinterest while the world crumbles
into crumbs on the floor at their feet

On Collins Street

the fancy shops carry on business as usual
Louis Vitton and Prada
have men at the door
ready to welcome you in
the Prada store
braided with a layer of burnished brass
polished so fine it’s almost a mirror
everything is high class
the bags in the window
the designer wear
everything is perfect in there
and they must have their own
power station out the back
for the store seems to glow brighter than anything else
in the entire street
it’s a small sun that seems to radiate
something you want to hold you hand up to
and warm against
on these mid-winter afternoons and nights
I note that there’s a sale
jumpers reduce to two hundred and fifty nine
wow- a quarter of my wage
a jumper I could buy elswhere
or a copy anyway for fifty

Glasses

A trip to the Optometrist
it’s like being on a space exploration mission
exploring the terrain of my inner eye.
My chin rests in a holster
and on a screen I can’t see
the inside of my eye is lit up
like a map of mars
Canyons
valleys
rivers on the surface
are translated from the vessels and arteries
leading to the optic nerve
and the macula

I look into a machine
a small green universe stares back
from the left corner
a nebula – spinning like the beginning of time
with time warp fingers reaching out to me
A flash bulb erupts
like the beginning of time
and for a moment I am temporarily blind
yellow vision.
Looking inside another machine
I see a microchip pattern
and an orange beam
is it tractoring into my brain?
hypnotically guiding me to buy
a certain frame
or do something like blow up a bridge
at some later time

EYE TEST

The White face hovers in front of me
reminding me of the monsters
from H.G. Wells
War of the Worlds
In the distance an eye chart
lit from behind glows muted
with the left I capture the top line
with the right
HOPELESS
the white face of the Martian hoovers in
sucks my eyeballs out for its greater purpose
lens’ flip and clatter as he makes adjustments
is it clearer or better
this way
or this
some are borderline
some easy
the right eye harder
it’s more far gone
in the end
a number of options are referenced
and a pair of ‘fill in’ lenses
are supplied
read the bottom line on this please
in print it must be ’6′;
I read for the first time in twenty years
removed its a swimming blur
like those pictures of cultures dividing
and dividing

I ask about three-D
how 15 years before
when having eyes tested
I could not see the fly’s wings floating above the page
with the pretend glasses they do
Amazing
a thought occurs
-would this explain my failure
to connect a bat with a ball
a racket with a spinning green piece of felt
putting a ball in a basketball hoop
yes – very probably he says
I’m amazed
maybe I’m not crap at sport after all
instead it’s my genetic disposition
that’s at fault
what a revelation
and another thought about neglectful parenting
why was this never picked up before
did I mention it or think it a problem
no, just blame myself for everything as usual
WRONG

FRAMES

Tanya helps me with frame selection
I declare my complete lack of attention to ‘style’
I trust her judgement
she’s done it for a while
we run through options.

With frames selected we sit
she has to fill each form in duplicate
for the two pairs of specs
the two for one deal

I am transfixed watching her script flow
it’s the neatest I have ever seen
each letter formed with love and care
and repeated one level down
I remark about it
she mentions O.C.D.
What does her house look like I wonder
her car
neat and orderly
I quip- “the exact opposite of me”

I’m surprised to find that with insurance
I only have to pay
One-O-Nine.
One hundred and nine dollars
for two pairs of glasses
ridiculous
how do they stay in business.
I farewell the matron of neatness

COFFEE

At a small table I secretly speak into my recorder
capturing the atmosphere
there’s a bloke about 25
a smart black jacket
well groomed hair
looking expectant
talking about his history of employment
to a woman with pink scarf
her back to me

a gaggle of business suits arrives
at the table nearby
no coffees ordered
but they start a business meeting
‘right there and then
I listen in
between gulps of English Breakfast
and slugs of chocolate fudge
I know
I know
it’s not on the diet
but who cares
I’ll get back on it soon
won’t I?

Chestnuts

Roasting chestnuts
corner of Elizabeth and Bourke
a round barbecue plate
nuts sitting on top
ready to pop
and pre cooked bags
to be taken away
wait in golden patience

Train seats

The velour is faded
the outer edges dark midnight blue
but where punters
have pressed their bodies
it’s faded now
a coating of icing sugar
makes the geometric pattern dissolve

We plough out of the station
sowing the seeds of the journey home
but outside it’s grey
the grey late afternoon
it seems to weep into the carriage
all through the carriage
painting the faces of everyone
with quiet desperation
to get home
to get where they’re going
please
get me off this train
they seem to be screaming
everyone