Charlie Baylis
a change of heart
in search of Alexandra
where are you now alexandra?
peach cheeked and amber eyed in sahara sand
hazy headed among the nectarines
a cool school of nordic poets all call
where are you now?
where are you now alexandra?
tinkerbell’s ashes settle over snow in dover
are you walking your octopus down fifth avenue?
are you lost under the lantern light of london-luton?
he said we’d make no progress
he said we’d fail
& that he’d make sure
where are you now?
i’m sorry but i don’t have a part for this line
or the next line
todd rolls on down the moraine
his heart led away in handcuffs, alexandra
are you not even going to try to be the poet you could have been?
because there is a space for you from the first word to the next
arching out over the amber of sahara sand
landing softly on your forehead
it is true we’ll fail
but failure is just the sandwich
squashed between the pages of which sandwich magazine
which we sit on for comfort
as we wind our way back to the city.
Charlie Baylis is from Nottingham. He is the Editor of Anthropocene and Chief Editorial Advisor of Broken Sleep Books. His poetry has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize and once for the Forward Prize. His most recent publication is Santa Lucía (Invisible Hand Press). He spends his spare time completely adrift of reality.
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