I had a dream last night
Good for you Stan
Dream I say
I see it going to be one of those days Jane
We are all in the gutter
You might be but I am not
May I continue
But some of us are looking at the stars
Who said that
You should know
In my dream I was at a swimming pool
An odd swimming pool partially surrounded
By Georgian buildings
The pool was rather busy
I had swum when it was quiet
And was sitting on a step reading Eliot
I always read Eliot when visiting swimming pools
A pleasant woman and her two children sat near me
We struck up a conversation
She told me that the attached bookshop
Had dispensed with its stairs
And had stacked unloved books
In their place which surprised me
As books are as unstable as sand
I vowed to visit the bookshop
But you had vanished Jane
A little later I was in the bookshop
And the stairs had indeed been replaced
By books of every size and subject
I climbed with difficulty to the gallery
And during my journey found
Six copies of The Wasteland
I purchased them all without hesitation
The cashier Monika Mee informed me
That you had been seen in Tommy Tee
Which was a posh tea room poolside
I wandered there via the low waters
And saw you by a glass panel
Sipping tea with your friends
As I opened the decorated door
You raised your hand Jane
Stay where you are Stan
Do not come nearer
Just look at the state of you
Cut downs hand downs
Is that the way you dress
Come back when you are suitable
And that is why I lay in the gutter
In Beacon Deacon Street
Where in theory we all belong
But unlike most people
I was looking at the stars Jane
And they were looking down at me
Stan & Jane