ICU

(i)

Roger Moore's eyebrows
permanently suspended in formaldehyde


(ii)

Lord Charles's monocle
retrieved from the still smoking
ashes of the crackhouse
Ray Alan thought he was in bed
tucked up with a cognac
and the latest Dick Francis


(iii)

Behind George Melly's eyepatch
the exploding lysergic nightmare
engulfs all in an eyeball of flame
Medicinal fags are rolled
on an old hag's thigh
and in his blind mind's eye
Dr Jazz rolls around
on smouldering linoleum


(iv)*

You will be free to run
                    free to play
                    free to live your life the way you want to
Wires dipping and swaying without poles
. . . and in the centre of the universe . . .
A city unborn

And beyond the darkness . . .
a light that glows, changes . . .
girders without stone
It is quick, affordable and you will be back on your feet
and enjoying your new vision in a matter of hours
Experience a life without glasses or contact lenses

There are great darknesses . . .
farther than time itself

The eye that sees us all
Limbs without flesh
Modern life is all about taking part

I've come to tell you what I see
rising into the sky with fingers of metal
I wish I had done it sooner
Expert eye care for patients of all ages
Corrective eye surgery will transform your sight

A city of the dead
swimming in the crystal clear waters of the Med

We all want to be part of something . . .
signs hanging without support
Our surgeons have access to the most advanced
technological innovations in refractive surgery
. . . a cool beam of light
from a state-of-the-art laser
gently reshapes the cornea

Flesh dissolved in an acid of light
Corrective eye surgery will change your life

B.R. 20/12/2015


* (Cut-up of an advert for laser eye surgery and dialogue from the 1963 Roger Corman film "X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes". Special thanks to my cut-up assistants Louise Ross & Rowan Ross.)