NEW POEM: 'BRUCE FORSYTH: IN MY DREAM, DAMMIT...'

Bruce Forsyth: In My Dream, Dammit…

I was walking the black mongrel Chico,

For some chap playing football we’d seen;

Then we entered what seemed like a packed village hall,

Though confused about where we had been…

Filming was taking place near a stage,

Of showman Bruce Forsyth and his wife;

I steadfastly walked up to the famous fellow,

The tension palpable and rife…

I invited them both to visit the new apartment

Where my three kids were now living,

Which took us through corridors of the elderly,

Whose plights were hopelessly unforgiving…

I knocked at a door, we were then shown around

A smart dwelling for this modern life

But as we left I spotted a convertible Mini,

Which belonged to Forsyth’s rich wife…

My son Jamie had folded claret cloth neatly

And tucked it into the top edges of the car;

He’d then run off to play soccer with his mates

But I called him back from afar…

I took a cellphone image of him, 

Waving proudly over his upholstery

And we left the hotel-like accommodation block,

To find the footballer waiting outside a hostelry…

I told Bruce Forsyth about the player,

‘Trevor Edwards’ I believe;

We had selfies taken with Bruce and his wife

But then the dog and I took our leave…

I awoke then and stumbled from the bed

Then staggered down the stair;

I scribbled points about the dream I’d suffered,

Which had been more like a nightmare…

Pete Ray

November 2016

Dreamt this the other night.

Trevor Edwards plays football for Montpellier, a non-league team in Badsey, near Evesham.

‘Chico’ was a dog I once owned, walked, looked after and despaired of.

Jamie appeared to be around ten years old in the dream.

The Mini had its top down and Jamie had used claret material to decorate the tops of the doors, the dashboard and rear-shelf. Claret? Aston Villa colours, I suppose…

The apartment appeared to be at the far side of a complex which housed the elderly and we had to walk past them in beds in wards, to reach a kind of landing, off which the doors to the flats led.

Very strange…