Sunset Over Lupset (August 1968)

Lupset sunsets smelled of bonfires,

undercut with new mown grass,

wild mint by the kitchen window,

treasures in the strawberry patch.

Father sat with pint of shandy,

The mower cooling in the shade,

the rake stowed by the garden shed,

the kids with sparkling lemonade.

Sunset over Lupset

August nineteen sixty eight

Sunset ov...

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The White Rose Pretender

It was the 30th of December

And the snow lay on the ground

Around the Yorkist stronghold

On Sandal Castle’s mound

When Richard, Duke of York

Was awoken by his hound

Baying for Lancastrian blood

Wherever it could be found

The Red Rose army at Pontefract Castle

Had been pillaging Richard’s estates

So he had marched north to Wakefiel...

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The Westgate Run (Re-Run).

“Get the round in John!”

Upon the Merrie Cities oldest street

when twilight creeps across the Yorkshire sky,

traditionally friends and strangers meet

and let the velvet darkness pass them by.

In pictures from a dim and distant past,

as gaslight spilled from heavy shadowed doors,

to neon tinted bars of Friday last

the sound of liquid l...

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The Ballad of Robert Hode

In the year of 1332

After the Despenser War

Robert Hode of Wakefield

Become a famed outlaw

He’d been an archer for Lancaster

(who was executed by the king)

And had his lands forfeited

For daring to fight for him

Now you may know him better

By the name of Robin Hood

Who some say came from Nottingham

But I would say you should

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The observant amongst you will no doubt have seen my latest poems being posted as music tracks. That's because I've rewritten a number of poems that I had previouly posted about my home city of Wakefield and added music. I've done this alongside a brilliant guitarisr/instrumentalist, John Kettle, from indie/folk band Merry Hell.
There's a range of music styles on the album - and although the subj...

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Laila Liqourish

Well, the black robed friars grew the sweet root

At St Richards and St Johns in Pontefract

And the local folk called the black gold Spanish

After travelling monks who brought it back

It was used as a medicine to cure a wide range

Of ailments of the gut and of the lungs

And the only side effect of treating the diseased

Was the colour of their lips and t...

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Wachefeld

Let’s start at the beginning

In a land of ice and snow

Where a brave band of armoured warriors

Set sail with sword and bow

To forge a new life far way

And settle in a land

Where the gods had promised riches

For each and every man

We sailed the mighty North Sea

And  by the grace of Odin’s beard

Landed safe in England

Where our kinsmen were ri...

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