Notes from a Memory of the Future
T.Wignesan
I
Do trains that fill with passengers
holding valid tickets to the
south
leave their stations on time
Engines turn the power off
Engineers say they have
arrived
simply because they
have not left
If you have arrived
you may not depart
until you have departed
II
Josephine waited three long excruciating years for her divorce
to
get married
Once the vows were pronounced
she left
saying
she was then well and
truly divorced
for she waited three long
excruciating years
for the divorce
20/12/1989
III
Who signed the cheque for cash
If you want cash
you must
have cash
and if you have cash
you can't have cash
'cause you signed the cheque
Cheques are only meant for Checks
Who have no cash
IV
Up in the mountains the skiers held on
for yet a while
for the snow to fall
And then they took the ride down to the valley
There it snowed again
piling mounting hardening
They tried skiing backwards
up
the mountain's spine
and got their backs wet
V
Perched between the iron railings and the reinforced balustrade
of
the terrace
Sparrows that earlier came for the crumbs
Now came to talk
They were polite
they
didn't interrupt their fellow-featheren
What were they saying
why were they saying
What they were saying
VI
Lots of people think they are well-dressed
They spend so much time
preening performing
cleaning brushing
oiling stretching straining
straightening sideviewing
pinching trimming teethflashing
combing buttoning
zipping belting
massaging
looking wondering
changing rebrushing
tucking-in heaving
sighing self-flattering
Then the time elapses
It is lost-time
because it is
time lost
You cannot get dressed in lost-time
So indeed they are not well-dressed
They go to work un-well-dressed
They may as well go to work undressed
So they go to work undressed
And instead of undressing to make love
work
They make love un-well-dressed
Or rather they work without dressing
and they work and love fully
undressed
© T.Wgnesan 1989
[from the collection: back
to background material, 1993]
VII
On Tuesdays he got up early to wash his hands
This has become a habit
On Wednesday nights he
thought he got up
to wash his hands thrice
So he made it a habit to wash his hands
five
or six times on Sundays
to make up for any lapses in
the week
He's a past master at clapping single-handed, isn't he?
That's what I thought
yes, he is
he claps with one hand almost
every day of the week
Well, now
how can he wash his
hands most days of the week
21/12/89