The Absolute Beginners

January 1987.
The song in heaven,
‘Reet Petite’
Jackie Wilson.

Berwick Street market,
Chiming its crackled soul.

And do you remember?
It was the worst for years.
The cold
and the snow.

The table thieves of Soho.

Mittens,
stone
and sand.

Rope,
cappuccino
and quiff.

For days on end.

Lorca and MacInnes,
would have loved it.

You and I,
were the Absolute beginners.

When it happened.
I was walking upstairs,
you down.

To the pub
and the stage.
The north
and the south.

We stopped.
Just for a moment.
The blue and brown,
of our eyes,
smiling.