Poem: SHELF-LIFE

 

SHELF LIFE 

(For Stephen Singleton 

circa Vice Versa-Neutron Records)

This is 

post-modernist po/ 

etry designed for use in 

hypermarkets, offices, 

telephone answering services, 

air-terminals, in-car systems, 

and pedestrian precincts. 

Functional poetry with 

stylistic malleability, 

angle-poise connotations and 

audio-visual connectivity. 

Conceptual poetry that 

is its own medium, 

modified and attuned to taste. 

This is post-modernist po/ 

etry with the appliance 

of science. 

Ideologically unsound sound 

for limited attention spans. 

Post-modernism is a 

synthesis placed at the 

correct cultural nexus, and has 

interchangeable/ mix and match 

influence components. 

It is shrink-wrapped 

and date-stamped for 

an ideal shelf life 

of three and a half minutes. 

This is post-modernist 

environment-specific poetry 

for subliminal subversion. 

Soundtrack jingles for discord 

imprinted on/ symptoms of 

rapid eye movement. 

Retinal shadow-shows in 

hygienic cellophane packs, 

ready for use. 

This is post-modern po/ 

etry with a disposable 

bio-degradable 

shelf-life 

of the next 

three and a half minutes…

 

Published in: 

‘TEMPUS FUGIT no.8’ (Belgium – December 1988) 

‘WORKING TITLES no.2’ (UK – February 1990) 

plus my collection: 

‘POWER LINES’ 

(Unibird Publications) (UK – October 1988) 

on cassette: 

‘ULISES DOG NR.9’ (C60 Vec Audio) 

(Netherlands – July 1981) 

‘L.P.G no.2’ (UK – July 1981) 

my own cassette: 

‘SLITS IN AEROSOL GREEN’ (Eight Miles Higher) 

(UK – January 1981) 

and on: 

‘DIAL-A-POEM’ telephone service 

(8 August 1980, Liverpool) 

‘G.A.S. POETRY, ART AND MUSIC’ 

edited by Belinda Subraman 

(YouTube, 6 June 2020)