The Blue Aeroplanes - Saint Me and The Devil

I think this painting is about
some kind of heaven.
That is, I think some of the shapes
mean just that.
I don't feel I know, or anything, but even
the vaguest impression has to
carry some weight.
Our look is blank, her sighs are the
size of the world
and she doesn't have the right
bolero jacket here,
so I get up and leave her curled
into a dream about monsters.
We are near
the main drag so I go and
watch people drinking.
I'm not drinking, so the light and
movement are important.
I want to see a route, a connection,
everything linking.
I was told to give up significance for Lent
but that old evil canon has us in its sway.
That that that is the best thing around here,
that people don't mind what you do.
They're actors, their play
is as good as yours.
I'm not even drinking beer
so I can spot the comic interludes.
When she comes in
I'll tell her about the girl
in the purple-head dress
and she'll laugh, saying
"I was wearing one of those things
in 1978", and then I'll finally have a beer,
and the rest
will follow like one of her paintings.
We'll be dressed
in paint and all the colours will be blessed.


Gerard Langley/Paul Mulreaney
from Rough Music, 1995