Suffer the street collection (again!)
Knick-knacks of uncertain use,
[Literary lists removed due to council regulations]
Empty CD cases and distant blues,
Faded covers, whacky videoclips,
Vinyls still turning a profit,
O apostle of messianic time…
What a great pain in this chest of mine!
All ex hale (Phew!) Accept my offer,
Dealer. Perhaps that old thing to hand
Will move you to read Coming Through Slaughter?
Anal I know, but you’ll need to buy it. As for me I’ll
Continue paying through the nose.
After Charles Cros. For a discussion of his sonnet prefacing The Sandalwood Chest collection see
Francesco Orlando’s Obsolete Objects in the Literary Imagination: ruins, relics, rarities, rubbish,
uninhabited places, and hidden treasures.
