ONE DAY
One day, one day
We will sit on that bench
under the lights
Overlooking the river
which you sweetly
think is the sea
One day, one day
You will drown
I will drown
One day, one day
I will drown you
You will drown me
In happiness
In smiling nuts
In pistachios
That truck that’s travelled
all the way from Mexico
on its way to the stores
loaded with pistachios
will crash into the pavement
where we are sitting
One day, one day
We will be submerged
up to our eyeballs
in pistachios fallen from that truck
We will eat our way out
to safe passage
Drunk on happiness
Drunk on pistachio amino acid
Pistachio serotonin
Serotonin neurotransmitter
We will feel focused,
calm, contented, steady footed,
emotionally stable
One day, one day
We will be happy
just by being in each others’ company
Soon, not now, but soon
Right now, this day, today,
there is work to be done
I will eat a pistachio
every day in your absence
One day, I will feel more
will feel focussed,
calm, contented, steady footed,
emotionally stable
And one day, one day
when there are no more
pistachios left for me to eat
I hope that is the day, the day
we sit on that bench again under the lights
Overlooking the river
which you sweetly think is the sea
And when you place a handful of pistachios in my palm,
I will refuse
because I will be happy again just seeing you smile
One day, one day.
Dr Lee Campbell is an artist, poet, filmmaker, co-curator of POW! Play on Words (a regular spoken word platform in London) and Senior Lecturer at University of the Arts London. He can be found online @leejjcampbell