EVENING LIGHTS... (My new poem inspired by Lesley Dabson's painting...)

 Evening Lights…

(Inspired by Lesley Dabson’s painting of the same name…)

Looking at this painting drew me back to my formative years

In Ward End, Birmingham and a Victorian terraced house,

Which belonged to my grandmother, where my parents and I

Lived until I was seven and the ‘front room’ was ours…

An outside lavatory, a coal shed, a recycled wartime

Anderson Shelter and a long back garden became my play

Area, where my father’s scolding was unable to reduce me to tears.

 

The dwelling was dark and grim inside, enhancing the fears

Of an obedient child, often wary and timid as a mouse 

Yet it was strangely comforting too for a boy who was shy

 And who played with a ball alone for many long hours.

Yet those evening lights conjure up warmth to hide the grime

Of age, the smoking chimneys, or the shadowy dullness of day

And through the gloom, a glimmer of hope surprisingly appears… 

Pete Ray

25th January 2024…

The painting really brought back memories of living in Ward End, Birmingham… 

The houses were close together but somehow a little forbidding for a young boy.

The lights in Lesley Dabson’s painted windows somehow beautified an ordinary scene for me…

Liked it a lot…