Thursday, April 12, 2007


Man in suit, doing a piss, Antwerp, 8/4/2007, 8.28pm

By Adam Gibson ©

the end of the world is closer here
as a man in grubby suit,
drunk and swaying from nearby pub,
staggers towards the gap
between two parked cars.

thinking he's hidden from view,
he unzips his fly and,
wobbling with booze and concentration,
unleashes a spluttering stream
- like a hose with a kink in it somewhere -
of sheer, shuddering and clear relief
which lasts a good five minutes,
onto the car in front
as jetstreams carve white paths
above in the european sky
and buildings stained with grime and graffiti teeter,
old and forgotten and over

he sways and dribbles,
burps in his throat,
one hand somehow holding a cigarette
which occasionally goes to his mouth
and which occasionally serves as glowing tip
above his head in the murky light
as he pats his askew combover in place
in the reflection of the rear window
of the car he is pissing on.

behind the tinted glass one-way windows of our bus,
meanwhile,
me and 30 others watch
in a comic and horrified suspense
as he finally tucks his old fella back snugly into his trousers
and looks around, content that no-one has caught him in action.

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