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Open the Trunk
(for Craig Charles)

 

October is the coolest month,

Out of silence comes a noise

Sparkling like a glitter toad,

Plunging like a butcherbird.

There is a tiger behind the door

And he is holding the handle.

 

He lifts the lid of the trunk, opens it a crack,

And from within a violent solar flare surges out,

A thousand times more powerful than the sun.

 

With switchblade tongue

He lilts a Beatle-maniacal line so louche

It reminds me of a time long ago

 

When he gave news from a Japanese stronghold,

Splitting sides as bodies fell into the mud below.

 

I’ve seen the best minds of my generation 

Destroyed by madness brought on by that trunk – 

 

Open it up and drive us to the brink.

Unleash a field of fiery carnations

screaming out your name!

 

I have been accused

and I have been acquitted,

Tonight we hail the trunk

and all that is transmitted.

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