SUBSIDING... (My poem about Rosie Philpott's 'wonky' paintings of Droitwich, Worcestershire...)

 Subsiding…

(with reference to Rosie Philpott's paintings ‘Wonky Droitwich 1938’ and ‘Wonky Droitwich 2011’…)

It’s like the buildings in Droitwich are tense,

On edge and dreading the next creak

Or shifting movement intense.

Or fearing also the effort

To get upright. Or maybe a sense

Of straightening to seek

And upset the equilibrium, oblique.

Or raising the wrath of any brine lying dormant,

Causing more displacement and subsidence

Until some disaster is imminent…

Pete Ray…

The artist has painted ‘wonky’ Droitwich and little wonder, as the salt mining industry of the past has already caused some interesting leanings of buildings.

Sadly, when I visited in 2019, the large hotel ‘The Raven’ appeared to have been allowed to rot away. 

Filthy net curtains blew from partially open windows, as another historic property awaited its fate…

My images below were snapped in 2019...