Job in Heathrow

1
with the frightened crowd
for whom every new alarum
is an authority
queuing in drifts
between levels
the so-called waiting lounges
of the so-called world

the word is out
there are bombs
in the whiskey
no carry on
this is the last straw

& nervous people
& nervous men in stab vests
& nervous men in puffa jackets
& no smoking signs
& this is a silent airport
you pay the man
& you wait for a sign
there the prisoners rest together
the small and great are there
studying departures
in a state of heightened alert
code somewhere close to titian

a man holds his woman in his arms
& another watches the door expectantly
& the enemy comes on his own feet to his grave
we are a trifle unsettled
we think about sodoku & the crossword
as though minding minutiae
the universe will look after itself
this is the world as it is habibi
it’s all we know
try to step off
& the man will bring you down

2
master I cried
who are these bastards
do we have any idea who these people are
willowy women in Gucci shoes
men in silk leather jackets
they circulate freely
in the recycled air
must we do homage
or will a simple nod be enough
a greeting ex gratia
do they expect to be questioned
to assist enquiries
interrogation
water-boarding even
look here comes one crying
hopeless hopeless  hopeless
& are we supposed to sympathise
when the gentry find themselves in the same boat
or plane
as everyone else
or at least in the same lounge
love brought her down she says
according to her biography
it was a chance encounter at a drug-fuelled orgy
in somebody somebody’s motor yacht
the coke blew her away
blew her brains away
& opened her legs
& wore her sinovial membrane down
it all sounds a little hollow now
with the end of the world upon us
& bombs in the whiskey
love love love she says
so much for all you need is love

3
they come & go like cranes
restless creatures look
& their pale limbs against the azure sky

I see myself in you
a sly oriental craft
sails on the water

& are we supposed to sympathise
& who are these people
extra-communitari

there in the upper circle
the automatic doors
are automatic from the outside only

we see them as it were through a tinted glass
wringing their hands
begging admission

these troublesome ghosts
what was it Marx said in the famous opening
something haunting

a man had his left hand chopped off
for with it he slew his master
& he begged a pipe of tobacco

& then he died
the ultimate manumission
in those days they knew their place

he was a slave & his place of execution
is here
upon this fatal shore or landing

at least Virginia apologised
they come & go like cranes
restless creatures look

& they make their homes in marsh & useless ground
& leave when they can
those Turks Hector & Heraclites

& Euclid the Egyptian
Pythagoras the fundamentalist
& all the gang

Avicenna the metaphysician
thinking about his credentials
they don’t let Uzbekistanis operate on Christians

even in Hell
someone is tuning up
old Ali Farka Touré on the air guitar

a session
come on boys
when did you make a run for it

no running here
cancer of the bones
death comes like ice

the heart of the moon
where you come from they get that
on a bad day as I remember

4

& somebody says the loo is blocked

dear god

what will they think of next

they’ve closed off the last line of escape

another safety valve

what will become of us

my father gave me Marcus Aurelius

on the last day of my holidays

& the old emperor stood me in good stead you know

communing with himself

at Gallipoli

we ran our ship ashore into the sand

we saw tesseræ in the parados

& I said to my sub I said

six or seven thousand years of this

& here we are again attacking the Turks

will it never end

meaning we the philhellenes

& that idiot Bean

is that a light I see on Tenedos

I’m dying for a smoke dear boy

& I’m too old for this

a decent education makes it all worthwhile

knowing what we know et cetera

this one is a beauty

see how he walks

don’t you love an Arab

oh the Sheik of Araby

if I don’t take a leak

I shall leak

& my sub said to me

an ignorant child

it’s all this Allah business sir

that gets to me

5

that girl bled to death

a million tiny wounds

& everyone said how well she looked

jammed against the partition

her pants still around her knees

a note of caution

peace accursed woolf

or words to that effect

they would not give her the last rites

the blacksuit serpents

mal dare e mal tener

they look after their own

but she is a beauty no mistake

they eat each other

round & round they go

her state is blessed

out of this world at least

poor child

they direct the almighty guns

against self-harmers

she was my daughter

your daughter too

6

the guards wear sunglasses

a society of spectacles as the man said

like the dark ground of a cameo

except in reverse

their faces are blanked by their eyes

if someone farts we’re dead

see their trigger fingers

& the somnolent insouciance

of the human face

if we had an air force

we would send you bombers

for I do not know whose voice is crying

when I cry

never look back at the border

the furies follow behind

never poke fire with a knife

never piss into the sun

abstain from beans

these few precepts mark you well

what of the isles of the blest

not for us my son

not our kind

they look at us

& we look at them

there’s bush that vicious mole

another non-statement

of what he thinks

another good one about axes

or the coalition of the willing

not the coerced

do we have to have TV everywhere

fly sky news news sky fly

o for a universal remote

please note the automatic doors

are no longer automatic

access to the open areas is restricted

arrivals is closed

all unattended baggage will be destroyed

nervous people

will be arrested

please note

the contrapuntal strains

of childhood & exile

we are all strangers in one sense or another

depending on each other

7

our children are hungry

they look up

& are not fed

not even a complimentary coke

the cost of living

higher than expected

year on year increases

sometimes out of reach

never easy to make ends meet

but what can you do

the grey wolf

walks the steppes of the heart

every father

every mother

knows the sound of his passing

his fierce eyes

but one day you must let go

you just let go

8

I said you should eat your garlic

it’s good for digestion

& indicated in these cases

but you made a pig of yourself

friend Elpenor

you were pissed

when you fell from that roof

a troublesome shade

don’t you look at me like that

out on that headland

the wind whistling in our drawers

remember the fire we burned

you kindled up quick enough

bare flesh & bread & young dark wine

once is enough for anyone

once & for all

but I did it twice

that was the kind I was

until the going down of the sun

when all the ways grew dark

& the sea was dark

& dark-prowed ships moved on it

let go let go I said

& we pulled out of that place

on our travels

what fun we had

at the mercy of the wind

wherever our fancy took us

we querulous ghosts

this is our ancient future

this holding bay

this waiting room

where no room awaits

this offing

this roadstead

this glass hole in the horizon

we could be flying

& instead we’re falling

out of the world & into the air

life is ticketless

point to point

& then there is Costa Coffee

& fear

9

how do you feel my dear

stricken at heart

but you’re on television

smile

I am stricken at heart

& losing the sight of my eyes

no flocks of sheep nor ploughed-land

saw I

but a barren wilderness

I am stricken at heart

o desolate men

let us hide our faces

sighing & whispering

in this place of tears

nor law nor council

but everyone in his own place

alone

there was abundant flesh

& so called consumer durables

& we looked at the sun’s single eye

& saw the travel brochure

& thought why not

it was a hole

promiscuous death

no rights knows

never tell them your real name

say I am no one or someone

anyone

but whom I am

10

that man is a renowned poet

see his hair

the thinking man’s easy answer

impounded

in this nether crib

after Adorno said that business about poetry

how can the man dare

never mind this or that holocaust

I say

better yet

think about holocausts

as something people did

a long time ago

& are inclined to do

once in a while

take the long view

politics makes you strident

which is bad news for the poet

whatever way you think about it

silence

is the only answer

& nothing comes of that

so twitter on

fiddle even

at least we’re occupied 

11

& for his simple heart

I loved him

three days he was dying

it was past all tragedy

& we were eating & drinking

like there was no tomorrow

sorrow takes you that way

rain cleared after midnight

& the tide came in

all the small sounds

of the drowning foreshore

sea-creatures coming home

& land-creatures fleeing

& he drowned I suppose

it certainly sounded like that

a man who looked out on the sea

all his life

but a landsman really

not overly privileged by death 

12

I look up & there is glass

or maybe sky

summer clouds

brittle & bare

& I think Mr Death how do you do

this bubble of blue

when the sky falls

all we ask for is plausible deniability

our travelling companions

our ancient kinship

consanguinity

I will deny everything three times

how we die matters less than why

or so they say

but if there is an easy way out

13

we are inclined to confidences

as the light fades

& calling to mind the distant past

& places we will never see again

departures are cancelled

someone says

when they let us smoke it’s the end

& pret-a-manger is running out

but we never despair

which is how we won the war

the game involves numbers

& knowing their place

the so-called biometric data

we’re looking for coherence

not meaning

competing against ourselves

we sense

things coming together

a great clandestine gathering

something that happens elsewhere

anything to keep the nights at bay

I get anxiety

a heightened state of alert

xanax is what I get

we’re just fading aren’t we

we’re looking at the twilight

oh yes

fading