Paul J Penton – Songwriter

Pigeon – daily writing July 20th

If I had a choice I’d be the Nando’s inspectorate general. It’d be a job of randomly turning up to any Nando’s Franchise [that's Portuguese chicken] worldwide and sampling the quality of the fare on offer. In particular the chips [or fries as Americans like to call them] There’s something very special – in general- about the preparation of these fries; crispy and golden on the outside, dowsed in some ’secret’ salt. When your front teeth scissor through them the satisfaction meter in the mind hits full scale, the insides are creamy and fluffy almost like hot ice cream. An orgasm of taste. Now when this is combined with the Portuguese peri peri sauce [though they slant it toward the South American angle] you have a winning combo. Especially with the water or juice that hits the spot like lemonade on a boiling hot day.

When the weather is favourable I sit outside taking in the street or the view as available. If I were the inspectorate general, here’s where Iwould get into a bit of pest control. Pigeons, and seagulls seem to form an alliance an army of fluttering wings that can easily surmount an attack on you before you’re even settled in for that first bite. The pigeons – usually scrawny underfed beasts with the feathers on their necks starting to peel away – ascend onto a neighbouring table and bend there neck at unusual angles – asking, begging for a hint of what you’re indulging in. A momentary compassion is nudged aside by a stronger thought ; ‘rats of the air’. These ordinary creatures with their mostly perfect box quilted perfect feathers begin to grow tails and eyes enlarge out of proportion to say rat, vermin , filthy. Who knows what diseases they might be carrying, these carrion,yarg!