Set the Controls for the Heart of The Club Bar in Paisley

Set the Controls for the Heart of The Club Bar in Paisley, a poem by Graham Fulton

Scotland have just beaten Croatia 1-0
in Zagreb
when we least expect it,
and to add to
the amplified wash of unreality
the pub is now playing
back to back songs by Pink Floyd
beginning with
‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun’
which I’ve definitely not heard
in a pub before
with Nick Mason’s moody voodoo drums
and Roger Waters’ mumbling zombie vocals,
and to enhance even more
the giddy sense of insanity
the barman offers me a choice
of lemon
or lime
to plop in my gin and tonic
which just doesn’t happen
in this town.
and Roger has quietly asked
is there anybody in there,
and we’re huddling in here like apes feeling
uncomfortably dumb
and wondering if
we imagined it all or someone put something
psychedelic in our drinks
as Roger philosophically winds things up
with
all that is gone all that’s to come ….
which is probably
a 0-0 draw with San Marino.

Graham Fulton is a poet from Paisley who’s had 27 books of poetry published over the decades, the newest being System: Special Edition Selected Poems 1986-2023 (Published in Silence Press). Books can be ordered from his website.

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