His working methods

from 

INNER SPACE GHOST MACHINE

(the afterlife of Eddy Daemon)

NATURAL SYSTEMS

Forgotten aces in the sky, desires you cannot name.

What have we lost and why has Eddy Daemon found it?

The gradual diffusion of his working methods,

and the ideas which underpin them, have taken a while

to seep into culture, but now we all have wet feet

and a damp pair of shoes drying in the corner,

torn bloody clothes hidden under the floorboards,

and a working knowledge of the realm from which

our victim's disembodied voice speaks, falling prey

to a common beginner's mistake of rushing to reach

the accusatory part of the speech. We took full advantage,

went happily mad, went on holiday for several years,

hoping to never come back. But now we've returned,

and when we got home it was as if we'd never been away

and it dawned on us that oblivion and loss

are not the same thing. This was all our Eddy's fault,

and now we are ready to give evidence, he is gone

without a trace. No notice given, no forwarding address,

no distant relatives, no unconventional activities

or farewell celebration. He could have been your best friend

or at least a neighbour to say hello and goodbye to.

As it is the beat of the earth goes on. We inhabit

our own country and wish we could vote to leave.

There seems to have been some misunderstanding,

I know nothing about bombs and rubble and burning flesh.

Natural systems often seem to defy physical forces,

doing what we are told not to seems to make us free.

And when she danced for me it was hard to stop.

     © Rupert M Loydell 2016

Drawing of Eddy Daemon © A.C. Evans

Other poems from Inner Space Ghost Machine can be read at
http://x-peri.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/rupert-m-loydell-from-inner-space-ghost.html