I didn’t like their album cover
This was long before we met
He teetered to his digs after the gig
Tiptoe boots and a bottom
I’d’ve Traversed Leeds for. Ha Ha Ha
A jeer on the back of his jacket
In red sticky tape. Is that what
Attracted them?
He must have been a fan.
They stopped their van
Promised they’d see him home
But swept him over the moors
To Burnley. More beers, then it goes vague
The clown punks slurring off, one by one
Strange possibilities, shunned
And in the morning, breakfast brought
By Duncan Disorderly’s mum.
Never cross the Pennines accidentally.
Our dark mills will metamorphose you.
Aged 18, kidnapped by the Notsensibles.
And they never brought him back.
Cold Case
Seal off the bar with tape.
Bag the wine glasses, take notes.
Caucasian, six foot, 170 pounds
Discoloured tooth. She was his mark.
The table’s processed for fingerprints.
He’s not on any database, but
very comfortable around dead relationships.
Looking closer, the loving couple
Had a dark side unknown to friends.
Stumped police have their work cut out.
They drink each other like Scotch
Wind up at the African joint after
His lunch hit the kitchen wall,
Red spatter revealed by Luminol.
An attempt was made to clean up.
His alibis don’t make sense
His signals bounce off masts
Miles from his place of work. He fails
A polygraph. The investigation
takes another bizarre turn.
He’s on the psych ward, folded
Like origami. She’s gone back to him.
He never opens his eyes, talks baby.
What they’re about to learn
Will blow the whole case wide open.
The weapon was a mobile phone.
Spent messages were retrieved.
Eyewitnesses saw them rowing.
Riddled with lies, she makes it to the
washroom. He’s already fled the scene.
How many victims has he claimed?
This cold case is about to get colder,
The evidence purely circumstantial.
Detectives must wait until daylight
Before they can search for the body.
Suzi Feay was literary editor of the Independent on Sunday for eleven years and has judged many literary prizes. She has been a writer, broadcaster and critic on a wide range of literary and cultural topics in the UK media.