༺ Yarn ༻

the only band on the island
2 Hot 4 July
we had a special gig
in the ancient Greek amphitheatre

I was furious with the leader
he hadn’t paid us tuppence
all his promises
like his Jamaican accent
turned out to be fake

my song was Psycho Killer
when I took the main mic
for the guitar solo
I made like Jimi Hendrix
leaving the thing
on the stage
with broken strings
and feedback screaming
the starry vault above
torn in half
by the ecstatic howl

afterwards a man came up
he claimed to have signed Madonna
he asked me to send him a tape
but I had no songs of my own
and somehow lost his address