I had a thing once, before that I was a younger man, a wiser man, a man who sung the mornings in.*
A man who practice lent all year round then in actual lent had a rest.*
A man who knew a man who lent a man his mighty boosh box set and never again saw the man he knew.
A man who could sing that whole bit in the fat boy slim song that sounded like it said shoe but actually said should with out taking a breath.*
A man who would just sit around and talk, not about anything, just talk.*
A man who spent his evenings two at a time because, at the time, time was forever.
A man who climbed trees on a whim, didn’t hesitate to jump a ditch, wade through a creek, ride a small metal dump-truck down a hill.
Didn’t hesitate to collect slugs to watch, bath with a fish, draw glasses on the dog, sharpen a pencil in one go, tell people which animals are the best.
A man who would stay awake all night just to see what happens, *
Eat watermelon seeds just to see what happens.
Hang the washing out upside down, just to see what happens.
Hold his breath, pretend he was invisible, introduce a caterpillar to a butterfly, go the wrong way up in a sleeping bag, put jam on a crouton, just to see what happens.
Touch batteries on his tongue, make mice watch dumbo, spend a day with floppy arms, spend a day with rigid legs, just to see what happens.
Make a lemonade Milo, make a fanta Milo, mix the chemicals under the sink and the ones in the laundry, with milo, attach leg shaped pipe-cleaners to a snake, superglue his knees together, just to see what happens.
Put stamps on the cat and pretend he came in the mail.
Put lots of string in action man’s belly to find out if that giraffe from primary school was telling the truth about how long intestines are.
A man who hadn’t yet learnt what a bank does, how a bar works, where to put swear words in a sentence, why people are actually scared of the dark, who makes the traffic lights work.*
A man who hadn’t yet had a thing.
Things change.
