25
along West 23rd
is the Hotel Chelsea
a place people go
to talk to ghosts
in the damp walls
feet and carapace
scratch
turn crisp loose wallpaper
into a sounding board
the sound of beds
thumping against
partition walls
moans and cries
tears and shouting
time hangs
in the lamplight
suspended in dust
at breakfast
artists writers
would be artists
would be writers
take a communion
pancake slop syrup
just like Hemmingway
Ok they say
it’s not like it should be
but it sure is close
26
the tarmac footpath
serpentines alongside
the church wall
now in summer
the surface bubbles
and the edge
like a mountain range
full of tiny volcanoes
of tar waits to erupt
children with magnifying glasses
focus sun spots
on ants
that wither and die
in flames and smoke
as the deadly beam
finds them
around the children
crowds push close
watch the tiny pyres
while they wait
one last time
for Elvis
• These are extracts from 56: a life in pieces – you can read a copy of the full version of 56 for free by visiting www.poetrykit.org/56.pdf For more information about Jim Bennett visit – www.poetrykit.org/jim/index.htm or www.myspace.com/merseypoet
