10

by Robert Sheppard

Overdub of Written in the Workhouse
by Thomas Hood

I’m ‘addicted to furlough’, binge–reading, Time
on my washed–raw hands. If this is lockdown, Big
Bo’s the governor. He confesses he’s a
porker like us inmates: we go to the morgue
quicker than svelte Svens. I gorge on prose to breathe
out poetry, locked in with Maturin, lost
on the sickbed with Perdita. I snack on
Minton’s Westbrook Blake, Byron’s Woolwich Free, bob
in Raghavan’s propulsive wash, wave off his
calls to action. Standards: Solitude springs fresh,
recorded by Kandace, Recorda Me on
Braxton’s pip–squeak sopranino. No time to
think about reviewing the book of reviews
that reviews the books I’ve already reviewed.

16th May 2020