When I lived in a squat on the Coventry Road

I used to share Michael’s sister

With all the others in the house

This was not a sexual arrangement

As we only exchanged charcoal sketches

Of each other sleeping in our central beds

Kitty T was by far the best artist

Although she was partially blind

And I was the poorest by a mile

So I chose to hang fairy lights

From the central heating radiators

Lilith the Argentinian girl said very little

As she struggled with our language

She smiled a lot and was considered

The cement of the house

Deadpan Kate visited occasionally

As she was writing a book

The Soft Parameters of Michael K

Donna Maria Donna Maria Donna Maria