I get distracted Big city tonight At the periphery of an establishment I nibble a Sidecar Bigger things, they say Down the line I spy the manager The manageress A glitch between them slips Through gaps in conversation at the bar I breathe pepper The dreadful carpet Pickle me here I pick up my telephone Hello A lit match catches one drop of orange oil From a piece of peel No Not on time I am pending fashionably late As per instruction The palms of my hands are tight From turpentine but who could tell A bell sleeve falls over my thumb Turpenteen Says the Scotsman of my mind The length of a school day Is an arbitrary measure But one I find useful I lay about with my pens and paper For a school day Climbed out from the bath And knocked up an ensemble The entire half of my wardrobe Under a waistcoat No nerve for transport I walked the underpass Felt my reflection in a motorcycle mirror And sped up We are freer under a road than on it I say to the receiver And hang up