MY BOOKCASE

A few old nailed together planks of wood
Which had somehow clung toegether,
through all the years of neglect .
These shelves which housed
all my most beloved books.
The very bookcase which haunts
A corner of my living room
Like some patient ; dusty ghost waiting
waiting for who knew what
Disaster I guess ;
or an enshrined counter-life
or may be just a more responsible owner.
SIGNED-ALAN 'GADZOOK' PANGBORN

Mojave Desert

Welcome to the country of lost borders
The border country we all reside
A battleground of intense conflicts
Of desire and possibility
As we try to sustain an illusion of timelessness
Between unsatified impulses and heartbreaking losses
As they creep up from the horizon of consciousness
I find passion seeking its living fulfilment
And trace and mourn its defeat
Until a path is broken in the psyche
Registering the everlasting truth
signed-ALAN"gadzook"PANGBORN

GOING TO SCHOOL

I COULD SEE MYSELF BEING WATCHED
STIFF AND STARCHED IN MY SCHOOL UNIFORM
AND HALF-WET UNKEMPT HAIR
HURRYING OUT OF THE HOUSE
'MAA AMI ASCHI';OUT IN THE STREETS
OF A TRAFFIC CONGESTED KOLKATA
RUNNING BREATHLESSLY THROUGH WINDING LANES
BRUSHING PAST TURBULENT HUMAN EMOTIONS
REASON,PASSION AND DEATH
LISTENING TO MY GREY UN-IRONED TERYLENE TROUSERS
SWISHING BRISKLY ALTHOUGH WET WITH SWEAT
I TRY TO KEEP UP WITH THE FRENETIC PACE AROUND ME
WONDERING WHY WE THOUGHT OF FINISHING
AND NEVER TALKING IN SANCHEAN PHRASE OF BEGINNING
JUST AS EVERYONE I NEVER FINISHED MYSELF.

SIGNED -ALAN 'GADZOOK' PANGBORN

"THIS NAMELESS WAY OF NAMING THE UNNAMEABLE IS RATHER GOOD"

Grey sour days
Make me aware
that the queue of hope
stretches long past infinity.
That I have been racy
and sometimes careless
and somehow feel more
the prickings of my
painfully ravaged virginal flesh.
And then I realise that
every consummated death
is a new beginning.