January 8 1999 Walcott Street. The morning rain is heavy. A and I struggle our amps and guitars up Walcott Street toward the Hat & Feather where we have hired the back room to teach his brother, G, our short, Shit-Pop set for the Moles gig. When we get to the top of Walcott Street, … Continue reading Notes From a Fragile Island…26
Jack had a spare for J. Lydon’s book chat event at Whitley Bay’s Playhouse last week. (Book chat? Book shat, more like, I didn’t say.) It was kind of him to think of me. The show had been postponed from last year. The queue winds three sides of the theatre, beach front, side street, back … Continue reading Swastika Décor.
June 18 2018 (Berlin) Three schoolgirls, skirted & shirted, each with a small rucksack across their white cottoned back, play a neat dance game in the carriage on the 7 u-bahn. They spin & clap the upturned soles of their smart shoes together, spin & slap palms. A pleated chorus of words & laughter accompanies … Continue reading Notes From a Fragile Island. 22
May 9th 2016 (South Shields) Arriving back from the city on a late night Metro I decide to treat Jayne L and myself to a nice drop of wine. I pop into Safeways, where, at the end of the quiet aisle I am accosted by a member of staff as I carry a bottle of … Continue reading Notes From a Fragile Island. 21
March 28 2015 (Croydon) I cut Ewa's hair and then the three of us, Ewa, Tony B and me, eat Polish white sausage with garnishes of all kinds. We eat them with crusty white bread and fried onions. We drink Polish lager. And after, I accept one Polish cigarette with such ease that no one … Continue reading Notes From a Fragile Island. 19
NB and I have traded letters and postcards since 2005. I always look forward to his correspondence and keep them, unopened, on the mantelpiece until I need a little pick-me-up. Last week I began a difficult reply to his latest, but this morning I finished it and folded the 5 sheets and the ephemera, found … Continue reading Palm Sunday correspondence (excerpt)
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