Sheffield 1979

Written for Paul Brookes' ekphrastic challenge - one poem a day in April 2021. 

The art work for this day is "Sheffield" by John Law

Sheffield 1979

A city, whose blood was molten steel,

waited for me in September sun.

Concrete flats loomed over the station

as the diesel fumes of weary trains

lay in the valley air. 

Long gone, the veil of sulphur

that clogged this city's lungs
to the sound of rattling cream trams.
Still, it had a hole in its road

and arches on the Wicker. Pride

in its knives, sharp and without stain.

There I rode a paternoster

(for no good reason), breathed in Hendo's,

 

discovered the 2p bus fare

on the number 60 to Crimicar Lane,

treacly beer at the Frog and Parrot

and the love of my life.

Tim Fellows 2021