127. close to the edge
we might never get out
of this paddling pool alive,
people can drown
in an inch of water, you know,
I mean – you can choke
on your own saliva, I once read,
and that madman in the next carriage
with the invisible knife
he’s a liability, he is,
a bloody menace.
& if you like a drop or two of the hard stuff,
well, you’re signing your own
death certificate really
– might just as well cut your throat right now
and have done with it –
better than a heart attack
or a stroke – and quicker.
In fact, I wouldn’t get out of that bed if I were you
not unless you smell smoke, maybe,
or, worse still, burning rubber,
cos that’s a brain tumour, that is,
often as not.