ABM (All Bout Money)

by Tony Rickaby

A jacket screams way past those sighs and chugs of corner anoraks circling.

Another muffled shunt means outstretched arms and worried end.

Any needless kick at something sawing repairs a sort of cough somewhere.

Behind an unknown wall a glance at yawning denim across the street.

Blood just one stays on the roadside and trusts not one rider.

Buzzing ideas and numbered wishes promote scattered meanings.

Madly greased boundaries stroll once they’re up and meeting.

Make paper regardless out to smoke out any brick corners until the thing occurs.

Most rowdy sets of blocks still idolize defunct distribution.

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Work Series

by Tony Rickaby

Some Joke

The joke is fading down from red to pink as a woman I remember from years ago limps past. Whatever happened to her husband?

Either ‘some’ or ‘real’. Not sure which one dominates.

Though there’s a contrast in the square, why always a square?

One half was easier than the other. But again which will dominate – the brighter of the two?

Will it ever be finished? What will happen to it?

He gets into his car. He rarely drives and his beard is now grey.

I’ll never be able to do that again, but does it say anything about my state of mind, whatever that means?

Help Me

Took a long time and a lot of trouble to arrive at so little. The me just goes and whose help am I asking for?

The match starts soon. More time to waste. Though what is wasted time?

Just a touch more perhaps. Or best to leave alone? The phrase ‘well alone’ can mean different things.

Same old thing. Very dark.

He now seems to need a nurse to visit him.

What will happen to labour? Or Labour?

I find that the word ‘slapdash’ first appeared in a play by John Dryden in 1679.

­Just Can’t Be Helped

A late addition which could be helped, despite what is stated.

Gone on too long. Getting nowhere.

Perhaps time to look at something else. Must be another way. A little extra needed to put an end to it. A bit of skill or intelligence. Surely not experience?

Can just be made out. Or: just can be made out!

What’s the angle?

In some shape different to most of them.

No Way

Making the best of a mistake by tearing it up and starting again.

Words mean something if someone can be bothered.

Back from hearing Ian’s story. Partly sad and partly funny, but worked out okay.

Four different (awkward) ways of making a point.

Not sure at all.

Just hanging around.

Clutching Straws

A bit depressed – but sure it will pass.

Too much going on. Things breaking up. In and out of focus.

Dots before my eyes. Too many changes. Difficult to see any future.

Kevin’s talking to the policewoman about his stolen number plate.

Leaning to the right.

 

Last Chance

Leaning one way then the other. All broken up.

Linford walks slowly back home carrying an umbrella. Too pale? Too grey? Such a contrast.

Looks cloudy. Could it have happened too quickly?

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Begging Bowls

by Tony Rickaby

Collect as many bowls as possible: from market stalls, junk shops, jumble sales, friends, anywhere. Made of any material: metal, wood, plastic, ceramic or wicker. They shouldn’t be too ornate and preferably be between 10 and 30 cms in diameter. Then do three things with these bowls on three successive days.

Day one
Choose a wall you know a lot of people walk past. Wearing white cotton gloves (bare hands might result in grease marks) place the bowls on the ground between 15 and 30 cms away from the wall. They should be contained within a maximum width of 280 cms but look as though they’ve been left there at random.
Lean against the wall and try to catch the eye of any passer-by.

Day two
Find an area of flat concrete ground and spread out 12 large bags of yellow sand on the floor to a depth of approximately 2 cms. Use a stick to draw out six concentric semi-circles in the sand with radii of approximately 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 cms. Place the bowls along these semi-circles as close as possible to each other without touching.
Stand well back, away from the sand, squat down and wait.

Day three
Cover a rectangular table with a clean tablecloth and arrange as many bowls on it as fit  comfortably. Place a photograph of yourself as a four-year-old child in one of the bowls. Sit down on a chair next to this photograph and try to bring notice to, or accentuate, the contrast between your appearance then and now.

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