I am in a small supermarket with my wife

She send me off to find people I do not know

A few minutes later I find myself next to shelves

Stocked with Adidas training shoes

Which are all priced at five pound ninety five

As I normally pay twenty pounds I am much impressed

I ask the senior assistant if she would find me size twelve

At first she does not answer me and is inwardly smiling

I suspect that a disgusting joke is passing through her filthy mind

Which I ignore as I do not care for ribald humours

She apologises and tells me that they have sold out of size twelves

And suggests that I try one of the superstores who are sure to stock them

I leave the store on my scooter but stop at the door to ensure

1/ That my wife is no longer in the shop

2/ That I am not unconsciously stealing anything

 

Overnight it has snowed and the roads and pavements are icy

But I still travel at speed in a careless manner

Confident that I will not crash and injure myself

When I try to reduce my scooter speed it only increases

I am now taking corners at over eighty miles per hour

 

When I am next aware I find that I have come to a halt

Opposite Richmond Park Railway Station

My scooter has now changed into a bicycle

This confuses but does not faze me

My position on the bridge gives me good views

Of the passing trains so I remove my camera from its case

And wait and wait for the next high speed train

It is whilst I am waiting that my episode begins

I am floating floating above the parapet of the bridge

I know that I am floating but cannot control my involuntary actions

In the distance near the thistle path I see a goth and his young daughter

Walking towards me and as I do not want to frighten the child

I return to the pavement near the pelican crossing leaning against the wall

The goth is wearing a heavy leather coat even though summer has arrived

I apologise for any alarm that I have caused and am told

That he quite often meets people floating above the parapet

And that his daughter is totally oblivious to such wonders

Before she leaves the little girl gives me one of her two dolls

And tells me that all life exists beneath the wigs of dolls

A high speed train passes by but I do not film it as I no longer have my camera

I have given to the child in return for the doll

 

I am now in a large waiting room which is not a waiting room for trains

My wife is sitting on a polished wooden bench smiling at me

I still have the doll BUT my bicycle and scooter are missing

There are mad people in this room making cocktails

One of them teaches me how to make a cocktail called

The Lost Hours

Which originated from the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1936

I suspect that I am being cornered but my wife assures me

That I am much loved and these episodes are quite common

In people such as me as their energy needs to be released quietly

I begin to tease the mad people by showing them my doll

And explaining that all life exists beneath the wigs of dolls

This makes their conditions worse and they are removed from the room

One by One by One by One by One by One by One by One by One by One

I feel both elated and ashamed at myself but everything is crystal clear

I know that like a train passing through Richmond Park Railway Station

That another episode is near but I refuse to acknowledge my fate

And close my eyes willing this poem to fade and slowly so slowly my sanity returns

I can hear seagulls fighting in the distance which is comforting as I live near the sea

My wife tells me that unfortunately I have made a pact with the devil

And that part of me will always haunt the parapet opposite the railway station

And that this poem will be bathed in a tangerine light for eternity

But I have returned and under my coastal window I can see my rapid scooter

The doll has vanished as well as the bike that I never used

But my sea views are tangerine as they will always be