John-Ward Leighton

JUST BEFORE I AWOKE

with an itchy inner ear
a siren screaming down the street
and my mind circulating moribund
as if I didn’t know the meaning

swabbed the offending ear
with peroxide to quell the itch
and had a pee
and thought life is a bitch

and fired up the computer
to see my blogs score
how many hits how many reads
just a bit tepid today

a usual cool and cloudy June
in whatever phases of the moon
soon summer will be upon us
and we will complain about the weather and make a fuss

after all it was ever thus
and the lines I imagined were bound up and moribund
and full of idiotic confusions and fun at last
as the fire truck cleared the lights with a bellowing blast

the occasional car hisses by
and the sun ducks in and out of the clouds
and I struggle to find the meaning, was I the subject of a joke
was that laughter just before I awoke?