Improvising
He wants us out.
There have been too many
complaints about noise.
More to the point,
not enough rent
paid.
He has a lot to say
climbing the staircase
with his dud warrant
and bucket of flame.
I meet him on the landing,
I tell him
my flatmate,
the percussive Mr Junkett,
is having a great time
banging on the pipes
in the midget submarine
they used to capture him,
they having tin stars,
whereas I
I
am prepared
to
what -
what am I prepared to do?
guilty as charged,
I will quietly eat his warrant paper
and douse the flame with gravy.
Gobshite.
Philip Davison lives in Dublin. His published novels are: The Book-Thief's Heartbeat(Co-Op), Twist and Shout(Brandon), The Illustrator(Wolfhound), The Crooked Man(Cape), McKenzie’s Friend(Cape), The Long Suit(Cape), A Burnable Town(Cape), Eureka Dunes(Liberties), Quiet City(Liberties) and The Makeweight (Liberties). The Crooked Man, McKenzie’s Friend and The Long Suit were published in the United States by Penguin. The Crooked Man was adapted for television (ITV).
He writes radio drama. Recipient of a BBC/Stewart Parker award for radio drama. His stage play, The Invisible Mending Company, was performed on the Abbey Theatre’s Peacock stage.
He has co-written two television dramas: Exposure and Criminal Conversation (RTE, Channel 4). He scripted Learning Gravity (BBC Storyville), a documentary film on poet and undertaker, Thomas Lynch. In 2008 he was elected to Aosdána (which honours artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland).