Anecdotage

Liars all, how we rewrite our past:
retrospectively placing Patti Smith
on the turntable to cover our shame
at fantasies of Kate’s Bush.
We try - and fail - to make ourselves more
interesting, inventing famous school
friends who age us by several years.
Two week visits to Lloret del Mar become
a busk through the Iberian peninsula.

Or we don’t; we tell the truth and risk
the boredom of acquaintances and bar-room
audiences: take the anglo-route of self
deprecation; the worm of hypocrisy
the finest bait for complimentary fish.