The Gift

by Paul Tristram / March 10th, 2019

Two brown boxes, special delivery
for Lord Half-Damp Beer Towel…
my puzzled chops exploded into a grin.
I opened them the wrong way ‘round,
of course I did, it’s how I work.
“Records?” I muttered as I held the box set
of Dead Kennedys The Original 7” Singles.
The second parcel holds more Magic
than any Christmas… unbelievable,
a black briefcase record player…
I was gobsmacked at its perfect beauty.
I’ve played CDs and MP3’s for decades,
and I had forgotten The Ritual,
The Connection, as you lower that arm
down, gently, to rotate, hiss and crackle.
I regressed to adolescence instantly
as I Holidayed In Cambodia,
whilst they were busy Killing The Poor.
THANK YOU, for bringing the Wonder
of yesteryear kicking and screaming
back into my life, for filling a gap
which I never knew was actually there…
and for making this Battle-Scarred
Punk Rocker smile like a child once again.

Paul Tristram is a widely published Welsh writer who deals in the Lowlife, Outsider, and Outlaw genres.  He wrote his first poem as a teenager following his release from the (Infamous) Borstal ‘HMP Portland’, and he has been creating Literary Terrorism ever since.  His novel ‘Crazy Like Emotion’ is available to purchase right here . Also his collection of shorter fiction Kicking Back Drunk ‘Round The Candletree Graves' is available to purchase at https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0DFMTSR4F Both books are published by Close To The Bone Publishing. Read other articles by Paul, or visit Paul's website.

This article was posted on Sunday, March 10th, 2019 at 8:03am and is filed under Poetry.