1
Transformer late night static
hiss of the needle
mono record player
then vicious in the dark
gentle tap on the vein
and the prick he sends into my arm
by perfect day we’re gouched
together on his bed
upstairs back bedroom council flat
down the road from the semi
attached garage extension and shed
and mum’s bought a sectional sofa
metallic copper wallpaper
bang and olufsen playing ABBA
so I lay my head on his chest
his arm falls over
and we lie, not moving
not talking,
being nowhere but now.
2
San Francisco 2026
Forty-nine years later
be here now is either a joke
or a particular kind
of fascist torture
the camps being built
the vote suppressed
the inanities of war
encapsulated in lego
the clearcut bombing
in their apartheid nation
be here now is a mantra
for another place, not this moment
we refuse, won’t occupy.