1

The Bird King has fallen in love
with a radiator.

He adores
her pockmarked skin,
her neurotic arias,
her coldness,
her impulsive warmth.

2

Tiring of his dalliance with the radiator,
the Bird King woos an armchair.

She’s amply upholstered
and groans dreamily
when he sits on her.

3

Now the Bird King is dating
a pair of curtains.

He strokes her yielding folds,
gently opens her.

But already he’s eyeing up the blinds.

4

The Bird King’s amorous capriciousness
reaches delirious heights.

In one week he makes love to
a toaster
a lightbulb
two carpets
a pet shop
a fruit bowl
a political rally
a helicopter
a heart condition
a daydream
half a dozen eggs
a swimming pool
an illegal transaction
a murmur
a cancelled West End show
a sock
five heads of state
a wart
a sneeze
a planet
and a mirror.

—–

This piece was originally part of my long poem, The Death of the Bird King. I have added new lines to part four.