Birthday, hometown address,

Indivisible prime, thirteen

Cowards avoid: hived and released

Are the firefly chorus line
That dizzily seduced the random

To hatch a prodigy. Tanned

Supermodels and showroom

Wide-boys be warned:
Here’s an unexpected collaborator

Shot of the thick, tight knot

Civilisation kept lowering over

His head, well out of it
Now in a place of his own.

No relatives, no rental –

A pool, double-glazing and lawn;

Gypsum-white scroll and finial
And famous poets’ benedictions

Brass-plating the entrance hall.

Friends, colleagues, your attention!

I leave this in-tray full
Where it lies for greater minds

To trawl; to ride a limousine

Into limitless Saturday sunshine,

Debts annulled, the day won…
To grope, untimely rolled

From sleep; to take the phone

Half-excited, half in dread

(Let it not be shared, but mine alone!) –
Madam, are you sitting down?