Become Shamen

for Mark Jones

When my friends grow old
they will become shamen
let their diaries breathe
sheela na gigging
or waving their penises in the air.

It will all be desert then.

Their faces blue with the woad of tears
and those who died early
will hang around as ghosts.

Their eyes upon each other
wishing they had spoken earlier
hands on shoulders
and legs giving way.


James Piers Taylor, 16th October 2006


IMAGE: Soyun - a 100 year old Mongolian Shaman featured in the radio documentary The Face of the Shaman