Wednesday, 14 April 2021

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


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