KEEPER OF THE GROOVES
For P.McL.

It crept up out of the blue
Long after I first listened
To the affable bluff and ardour
That wafted in spurts on air.
An above-par package
Between hand-picked tracks.
Whatever.

Then we were introduced
In a not-as-we-know-it Academy
Assembled to watch a retro
Androgynous doll or two
Dance like a monkey.

And not even then did I think twice
Nor on each new thrill
Of musical whim
Humoured with grace,

Ethereally numb
To the keeper of the grooves
Until the trickle of off-the-cuff replies
To my trivia unsuspectingly relayed
Sprung a leak
And an amusement shared surfaced:
This toying with words.

That’s when my focus reversed
As if the broadcast was beaming 3D
And fanned out 360 degrees
In deep-vein visitations
Like the arm suddenly around you
Of a dear friend.