Poem: 'In The Garden With Peter Green And His Sea-Lion'

 

IN THE GARDEN WITH PETER GREEN 

AND HIS SEA-LION/ 

THE GREEN MANALICHI WITH 

THE TWO-PRONGED CROWN 

(Peter Green was the original guitarist and 

guiding intelligence behind Fleetwood Mac, 

currently rehabilitating mind & music)

 

hic 

“it’s my sea-lion” says Peter Green, 

“my pet sea-lion coming through” 

& he hiccups again 

here in the garden, 

apocalyptic omens ripple 

in crowding shadows, 

here at the still centre of rage, 

all is flat, calm, & 

scoured to bone 

it’s only the dark places 

that suggest endless nights 

boiling with madness 

Blues and acid 

hic 

“sometimes your life 

changes direction” says Peter 

“like a fish” 

& you cross the line, 

a line of fire drawn sweet 

and oversweet, but here, now 

beyond this savage quiet sky, 

on the rim of sanity, I hear 

the sound of galaxies colliding 

in those strange nights of 

paradox and betrayal 

but here in the garden 

the lilac ripples, gently 

creating and destroying 

monstrous shadows 

“sometimes they throw me a fish” 

says Peter Green, “a red herring 

...what is a red herring 

...a dead herring... “ 

& he hiccups again 

hic 

Published in: 

‘TEARS IN THE FENCE no.22: Spring 1999’ 

(UK – March 1999) 

‘BOGG no.71’ (USA/ UK – June 2002) 

Featured online at: 

‘PRESSURE PRESS PRESENTS’ (25 July 2017)  

Collected into: 

‘TWEAK VISION: THE WORD-PLAY 

SOLUTION TO MODERN-ANGST CONFUSION’ 

Alien Buddha Press (USA – March 2018)