Outtakes

          Somewhere for anyone to happen on, 
          unheard, unreferenced, on master tape, 
          my outtakes, the edges of completion, 
          still survive as leftovers from a cleaned-up 
          final version. They have been filed away 
          for someone killing time in an archive 
          to stumble across while his fiancé 
          collects her coat and pay cheque and clocks off:
          -my nervous coughing; a few pat words 
          of instruction; the dry-run that amounts 
          to attempting "Baa Baa Black Sheep" backwards; 
          fingers drubbing; some seating adjustments;
          the technical hitch purring like a fridge 
          in the wee hours; an entry off cue; 
          a pitcher of tap water clinked; the bridge 
          of "Norwegian Wood" lilted out of key; 
          a gag about old dentures which falls flat 
          after tripping on grasps, slurring the same 
          diphthong twice; groaned from the editing suite--
          "And from the top again, in your own time"; 
          a pause to wangle a cut for the news; 
          the reel let run through apologetic
          yawns and ill-judged ad libs and the tannoy's 
          pointers on pronunciation; static 
          like rain on a skylight; a clearing throat;
          the suggestion of five to download
          three seconds of wind through a field of wheat
          or footsteps nearing on an asphalt road;
          blowing on coffee with neither sugar
          nor milk; a last pre-emptory sniffle 
          within range; the odd expletive on air; 
          a hangover's residual crackle 
          swept beneath the first riffs of a fugue; 
          requests for a breather and a script re-think; 
          stammering on flashbacks of last night's fug; 
          a Swatch bleating six; mid-sentence, a blank 
          or fluff or coming too close to the mike 
          at the thought of underthings on a floor; 
          a door sighing shut; my mumbling junk like--
          "I'm not sure I can do this anymore."