To Marcus on his 35th Birthday

To Marcus On His 35th Birthday


One of the things I'd like to do
Is tell you the things I love about you:
Your obsessive contempt for so many sports,
Your legs in the summer, when you're wearing shorts,
Your love-hate relationship with the cats,
Your cowardly approach to doing your tax.
The way your hair stands madly on end,
The fact that you tell me that I'm your best friend.
Your valiant attempts at D-I-Y
And cheering me up when I want to cry.
Watching double bills at The Everyman*,
The holidays that we plan and re-plan,
The games that we play in bed, in the dark,
And walking with you in Regent's Park.



* A cinema in London