�Keane Road�

…And then there was Sutton Bridge
Part of Norfolk or Lincolnshire, I’m still not sure?
Every unexpected hedge and scary dike hides dirty eyes and mucky bikes
Travelled all alone from school and dropped off for anyone to seize
Where was your Mum and Dad when the dark clouds approached?
All the sisters are at their boyfriends unaware of the thunder storm ahead
So the toys were left behind in the garden shed when you suddenly had to move
Another hurried bundle packed in thirty seconds flat

The St. Michaels infants
Grew to be Whitefriars juniors
But King Edward killed the buds and blossoms too quickly
Too many of us left wandering confused out into the factories and fields
The blind and the unkind of all the South of a new town
The ugly and the unlawful of awful everybody else
These fens that pen you in with dark damp flats that roll on for miles around
And the surrounding swamps and bogs that still threaten my every step
So now I walk carefully in a city far away with care for content

Anchor Road
Orange Row
Saddlebow
And Hillen Road
I really should be free of you all by now
Past the bullocks in the barns
And my best friend hiding in the sky, safe from harm
I whisper, I apologise to my boy from yesterday
Telling him that everything is alright and how he is now safe
And that he managed to survive all those long roads and lonely country lanes
I think I’m also telling him ‘goodbye’ instead of ‘goodnight’
As now he feels that he can finally rest his little tired eyes…
 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Marlton]

That captures a visit to the west of the county nicely! 'The fens that pen you in with dark damp flats' is a great way to express it. Very Wisbech. Liked the 'unlawful of awful', a clever mouthfull. And touching end where an adult perspective meets a frightened child.

SMH X