Oh deep and lovely Anna
I wish I could fix you with a spanner -
- take you into my shed,
peer into your head
strip you down, oil you, and bang you back into shape with my hammer.
Then re-assemble you
buffed up, good as new.

But you’re not a carburettor
for a 68 Lambretta
Not a bit of old machine
that I can take apart and clean
You’re a real human bean

You’re vulnerable and complex
Of the deeper, more irrational sex
I can’t take you apart
I wouldn’t know where to start
The prospect would be frightening
Though your loose screws do need tightening.

But I do worry whether
You might break down altogether.
And I don’t know what I can do
to restore the previous you.