Marcus Slease

IMMIGRANT SONGS

Scene: Milton Keynes, England. Coffee Hall. Housing estate. Near the playground.

BOMBER JACKET (stuffed with old socks)
hiya I’m a Mormon quarterback

Tootise Roll
in the pockets of a Mormon missionary

Spiky Hair
I take off my shirt to you

Little Blond Hair Mop
It’s time to go

BMX Bikes
bunnyhop bunnyhop stumpjump

Wayne
Hi, I’m Wayne

Tigerboy
I nicked this rum from my mum

Madonna
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

Bun
Out of fashion

Curtain
Not yet in fashion

Poof
We’re all poofs at heart

Deflated Ball
Who? What? When? Where?

Scene: Arville Apartments. Las Vegas. Near the desert (of course).

FIVE-ALIVE (bleeding through the carton)
best mixed with now-and-laters

MEXICAN PRINCE (at the playground holding court)
HEY hombre!

HEY Amigo!

PEN TIPS (in the hands of 80’s children)
we
we
we
we

have a tent
don’t like money
challenge them
unravel tapes with pen tips

Blue Lights
Mothers. Or not. Scuffle. Boy buys cowboy boots. Other boy eats special big K
hamburger.

Gumballs
For each coin you drop you get a card with American history. For every ten
cards of American presidents you get to chew me.

Nerf
No pigskin. Easier on the bowels.

Scene: Oakwood Place. Portadown. N. Ireland.

Doll
My grandmother had a mask under the stairs and my mother did not my grandmother had false teeth my mother does not my grandmother was friends with the coalman the milkman my mother was friends with the ice cream man

Car
Blue. 1978. BAM!

Boy
Bounce. Twice

Bike
There was no bike

Nurse
Are you sure there wasn’t a bike?

Boy in Bed
Bet you’ll fall asleep before I do

Tools
Scrape. Poke. Yoddle.

Man
Here’s a new ball for your trouble

Scene: The National BOWL. Milton Keynes. England. David Bowie in the distance.

Poof
My banana kick is better than you’re banana kick

Banana Kick
WHOOOOOSSSSHHHHH

Boy A
You’re lucky. You’re going to L.A. where they breakdance

Boy B
Not LA, LV

Boy A
What’s in LV

Boy B
Lights

curtains close

Marcus Slease was born in Portadown, N. Ireland 1974. He wrote Godzenie (BlazeVOX 2009). He is a nomadic poet and has lived and worked in various places including: Milton Keynes (U.K.), Seoul (Korea), Elblag (Poland), Katowice (Poland), Ankara (Turkey), North Carolina (USA), Bellingham/Seattle (USA), Utah (USA), Trieste (Italy). Currently he lives and writes and teaches ESL in London (UK).