Have a listen to this. (Distorted voice) Nora In the mid 70s I was a nobody with a foreign accent. The sort of person you only recognise in a hardware store when you needed to know in which aisle can get one of these, as you show me the picture of Jane Fonda’s bathroom. I’d be the guy in brown overalls demanding higher pay, but not demanding higher pay because that’s how the last nobody lost his job. So, I point you to aisle seven and ask Nora at the register to turn the radio up. It’s not as good as a pay rise, but they are playing Nora’s favourite song. Don’t ask me why I notice the smell of her body among other bodies or why I stay late to help her with the stock check. She’s quite demanding. I don’t say anything, it is better that way.With the change in my pocket, I take her yawns as a cue to order two coffees. I don’t like coffee it tastes like tar on my tongue. She adds three sachets of sugar, slips off her shoes and offers me some gum. It is not until the gum has lost its flavour do her eyes dilate to let more light in. I feel like an ancient star waiting for this part of the night to happen.

5 POETRY WALES