And the Gods looked down on Endland (sic) and tbh they were pretty unhappy how it turned out. Vesuvius, Asda, Thor, Colon, Rhubarb and Mr Cauliflower and all of them argued about what was wrong with it, and what was the cause of the wrongness etc. Was it humanity itself or only capital that was to blame? Some great singer of the time was with them also, a non binary sensation in sequins and jeans called ________, invited up to Olympus for a one off secret gig and they joined in the argument and when it was over they descended to Endland (sic) agen in a fabulous visible form to make a impromptu free concert at Glasto in the toxic rain. Lamenting the whole story, they sang a cover of Chuck Berry, a cover of Prince, a cover of George Michael and a cover of Bowie, and then, without a encore or even a goodbye thank u and thank u and goodnite, then it was done.

It is murky and opaque

It is murky and opaque

Her parents called her Rome. A name out of a book. But some other kids looked in books too and were constantly teasing her saying FALL OF ROME, FALL OF ROME and SEVEN HILLS so she changed her name, to Stalingrad and there were no more jokes any more, and other kids kept their distance.

At 12 she changed her name again, to Joanne. People whispered that she talked to a history teacher who knew lots about Old Times and said that it was after that she changed the name. Who knows? In any story there is a lot you cannot be sure about and for that reason people are always criticising the ones that tell stories but as the poets say; ‘Who here can do any better? Is there someone else that somehow knows everything?’ And ‘Why don’t all you wankers at the back there just shut up?’

It was certainly a teacher that 1st recognised her talents because her parents were dead by then and she had no other friends or human contact. The teacher in question called her privately to a part of the classroom right besides a display about Apollo 13 and Montezuma. The teacher said ‘You have a got a talent. Do not waste it. Do not tell anyone’, which seemed like contradictions. Later, during a long air raid, the same teacher whispered that the talent could bring both riches and trouble. Joanne was scared. The teacher said do not be scared, the bombs never fall on this side of the city or compound. Joanne said she was not scared of the bombs, she was scared of the talents. The teacher said it was OK to be frightened of talents. ‘Do not take the talents for granted’, the teacher said, ‘Do not think about the talents’, which also seemed like contradiction.