Poetic Licence

by Mike Alfred

“I can, said the creator, I can offer, he said, only a life. Just the spark to the starter motor, a puff, a squeak and I’m done. Life is all I can give you. Haven’t you realised that I’m an experimenter, not an insurance salesman? So you see, survival, survival is up to you; it’s your adventure. I can’t guarantee silk stockings, an apartment in Manhattan, or pure intentions. But here’s a word of advice: don’t put too much store in the words of parentsteachersbossesexpertsbureaucratsmarketers, they’re purveyors of an obscene accumulation of useless can’t …”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Alfred is in his Eighties and lives in a retirement village in Bez Valley, Johannesburg. Poetic Licence is his second poetry collection. The first, Life in the Suburbs, was published in 1994 by Snail Press. His latest offering, Travels in Geriatrica, is self-published and features elegies and meditations on marriage and his deep relationship with his wife of forty years who dies four years ago. Mike is also a tour guide and steeped in the history of Johannesburg.