i sat across the road on a bench         expecting satisfaction

when        after     too long a wait the tow truck        loaded

offending vehicle moving away          the owner returned

       feathers sticking out of her hat    bobbing up and down on her

high heels    with arms skyward or breast stroking        calling

                    out reaching for her car    i didn’t        

move            watched her reach for the car        come up with

the windscreen wiper holding         down the note    flew up and

covered her face        stopping her    catching the note as it

dropped        motionless watched the tow truck disappear       

             she read the note         folded and pocketed it     the last

i saw of it        she never looked at me           

would’ve preferred          but being late is all     i remember    

and when i don’t pay attention i always write feu [fire] instead of fou

[crazy] no matter what the word            ok       

i want it    it was in a bad luck jacket i’d stopped wearing

          for good luck        taken again i saw she had written 

           feu [fire] instead of fou [crazy]    i threw it away

       i was the squawking bird    wasn’t going to say so    but you want

      me to take it, don’t you?           

      Marc Jones