Friday 23 December 2016

SHARD END, BIRMINGHAM: 'STARK CHILDHOOD NIGHTS...'

Stark Childhood Nights

Those seemingly starched linen 
Sheets:
So cold,
The water bottle made 
Little difference.
Those assuredly dark nights
Alone:
So bitter,
The steam-breath made
Ghostly essence…

Then the rattling began,
Wind-blown from the River Cole;
A vehicle passing across
The wooden Bailey Bridge
Tortured my tired soul…
Then the roaring began,
Wind-carried from Elmdon Airport;
A revving of aircraft engines
Spewing a runway cacophony.
Timid, my fear I fought.

Those markedly quieter nights,
Eerie:
So distant,
The isolation made
Uncomfortable peace.
Those uniquely post-war twilights,
Extinct:
So stark,
The disquiet made
Nervous unease.

Pete Ray

THE CAT, RICKY, LOOKED BETTER IN MY SCHOOL TIE THAN I DID...

RARE IMAGE OF ME NOT KICKING A FOOTBALL...

WHERE I WASN'T ALLOWED TO KICK A BALL...

THE REASON WHY I NEVER WEAR A HAT TO THIS DAY...
IT WAS CLARET & BLUE FOR A START...

It seemed that the wind would drag the rattling sounds of vehicles passing over the River Cole Bridge to my bedroom, plus the rather unpleasant accompanying smell from the river. 
At weekends, an airliner opened up its engines to echo in the Shard End night skies. 






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