Legs set apart and pint in hand 
leading out the tribute band 
check out the state and stance of me 
like the late great Freddie Mercury. 
Across the window, Baconesque, 
scattered like a writer's desk,
my motley crew put on a show 
not perfect but as these things go 
not bad. On lead and bass guitar 
my Michelin men may not go far, 
but farther than my backing boys 
who hold their balls like fragile toys. 
They just don't get this rocker game
and freeze in front of Metges Lane.
They fear exposure, but not me 
inspired beneath the canopy 
with Guinness sponsors at my back 
like Freddie, there's no holding back
and colours then begin to glow. 
I'm not hallucinating. No!
I've never seen a bluer sky.
Ever watch the world go by
while it watched back? That's what I do
reflecting every day the new, 
the old. The people come and go 
no talk of Michelangelo
but ancient stone and brick are there. 
They animate the market square. 



by Richard Ball