the museum on the edge of santa lucía

for julia

the elvis impersonator

wearing a t-shirt which says ‘i <3 my wife’

watching his watch reading ‘a brief history of time’

while john ashbery writes of entropy

polar bears with the bluest eyes

play in the snows of antarctica

beached seals hypnotised of global warming

the police lend me novels which drive me mad

the police lend me novels about romance

hush! my novels are classified

(my novel begins)

‘julia is beautiful

she works in a museum

on the edge of santa lucía’

i meet her on the pier where the orcas leap

over our heads in beautiful conspiracies

convex mirrors flipped vertical

(my novel ends)

‘i am sorry for my moments of madness

i am sorry for the hurt i caused

while ironing my spoons

we must love ourselves most of all in the dark moments

when we need love the most’

the police litter the pier with fashionable novels

the police are tiresome

the police are a contrary colour in extravagant belts of blue

while john ashbery writes about the coastline

swaying from his necklace

a million butterflies launched into white and pink clouds

before they were white and pink clouds

Charlie Baylis is from Nottingham, England. He is the Editor of Anthropocene. His poetry has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize and once for the Forward Prize. His most recent publication is Swimming (the Red Ceiling Press) He spends his spare time completely adrift of reality.