This afternoon passed quickly I took out subscriptions to three poetry magazines then cancelled them read a Basil Bunting poem and finally understood it then read it again and realised I didn’t I started reading War and Peace but then decided I should start a note book and collect ambiguous statements like - “laced up stout boots to walk the dogs then remembered I didn’t have any” and your absolute classic - “I really do love you” This afternoon I sorted out two jigsaws, separated straight edges from the rest then hid the corner pieces down the chair to save time I wrote an essay entitled a hundred ways to pass an afternoon but gave up after Number 1 Write an essay wrote three improvisational plays with the same instruction “be yourself” and discovered a cure for people who think they know it all but I forget what it is This afternoon I sat at the end of the road and wrote down the registration numbers of passing cars counted the birds who balanced with eaves-dropping feet on the telephone wires launched myself three feet into space from the garden wall listened to all the CD’s you left on that strange mode that changes tracks after 10 seconds then heard Lady in Red and knew why that mode exists This afternoon I worked out that I could change the channel on my TV quickly enough to see three chat shows at the same time. heard about two cases of people who had relationships with people it turned out they didn’t know - and three cases of people who had relationships with people they did know but who didn’t know them very well This afternoon kicked a plastic bowl round the kitchen, won the footbowl world cup got the mower out to cut the grass smoked it instead (another one for my ambiguous notebook - and another) I started making dinner for one then decided to get a sandwich from the shop sometime This afternoon passed quickly
now I sit and wonder why I didn’t have this much fun when you were here. Jim Bennett
If you've any comments on this poem, Jim Bennett would be pleased to hear from you.