Refugees from what was formerly known as Eastern Europe are now a common sight begging on the streets of London. Particularly women. Wearing brightly patterned long skirts, shawls and head scarves, often with gold in their ears and teeth, it is this splash of unfamiliar colour that apparently sticks in the throat of many citizens of this island. Britain's poor and dispossessed are dressed in the colours of the pavements;it's as if there is an unspoken understanding that the British poor must camouflage the gutters and climate. The Eastern European women beg with their children and tend to ask for money whilst on the move. Britain's dispossessed tend to beg with dogs and ask for money whilst sitting down. It's as if the British think that if you own a dog you are basically a good person, whereas if you own a child you are basically a bad person. The next time you meet a Romanian refugee with rose buds on her skirt, explain to her that she won't get any of your cash until she wears a grey anorack and filthy trainers. Or you could give her a tenner and discuss with her (using the small dictionary you keep in your pocket) how many s's there are in dispossessed.

Between 1984 and 1994 I wanted to blow language apart. Now I just want coherence. I hope the above is coherent but inflected with some pleasurable difficulty? Difficulty should always be a pleasure. Regarding coherence, always remove brackets between words: for example when a forum becomes a (trans)forum or he and she becomes (s)he, you have not confidently claimed your enquiry into a grey area. There are of course many shades of grey, but brackets resemble the sort of crutches they give out in casualty when you break a leg. This might contradict what I said earlier about language not being a virgin - but really, cowering behind brackets is not the sort of activity a strong swimmer like you should waste your time on. Make yourself a gin m(art)ini and think again. The most recent bracket should have made you wince -if it didn't, wear beige lipstick:a fashion that seems to me to rub out lips and make them (lips), or consider alternative ways of presenting a broken bone. If you can find a way of using a bracket that is beautiful (such as holding a thought before it scrambles) by all means exploit these curves () for your pleasure and delectation.

Never forget that a daydream on a bus is sometimes a vision.
And a vision is sometimes no more than a daydream.

If you are thinking about the future and what it holds for you-remember that the future is just a view. There are views to be had under the table and on top of a mountain. A view is also:

1. an idea
2. wanting to do something and getting a glimmer of how to go about it
3. a place you want to be in and deciding what you have to do to get there
4. a new understanding of a situation:( past, present, future)
5. believing that the present will change into something else
6. merely turning your gaze in another direction

In 2000 I gave birth to a baby daughter. Milk. Blood. Tears. Love. Is this it then? Is this the "it" of it? Is this femininity in aces? Is this pure woman?

It is possible that it is not putting my nipple into my baby's mouth, but writing books that is my purest expression of femininity. Language is a place where all the N's are up for grabs- femininity is not a virgin, never let anyone save it for themselves and tell you it belongs to them. Writing books is my way of walking into the centre of the world without anyone knowing I am shy. Now I walk into the centre of the kitchen and deposit wet nappies into the bin. Which of the two are the more feminine actions?

Between 1994 and 1998 I wore blue mascara on my eyelashes. This seemed to me to be the opposite of femininity. No man ever said "are you a natural blue?" To which I would have replied : "No, I'm a writer."