The Only Living Boy in Aja
after Simon & Garfunkel & Steely Dan
Here at the dude ranch above the sea
I get the news I need on the weather report
Double helix in the sky tonight
Or so they say
Up on the hill
People never stare
They think I'm okay
Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile
Half of the time we're gone
But we don't know where
Fly down to Mexico
Chinese music under banyan trees
There's no return
And here I am
*****
Don't Dream Across the Universe
after Crowded House & The Beatles
Words are flowing out like
There is freedom within
Get to know the feeling
Of liberation and release
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are
Only shadows ahead
They come, they come
Endless rain into a paper cup
There is freedom without
Possessing and caressing me
Like a restless wind
Barely clearing the roof
Many battles are lost
Inside a letterbox
Which shines around me
In the paper today
The door of your heart
Tales of war and of waste
Limitless undying love
But there's no proof
Now I'm walking again
And I'm counting the steps to
Sounds of laughter shades of life
Drifting through my opened mind
Hey now, hey now
Thoughts meander
They call me on and on
Like a million suns
Richard Skinner is a writer working across fiction, life writing, essays, non-fiction and poetry. He has published three novels with Faber & Faber, four books of non-fiction and four books of poetry. His work has been nominated for prizes and is published in eight languages. Richard is Director of the Fiction Programme at Faber Academy. He also runs Vanguard Readings and its publishing arm Vanguard Editions.