wakefield (Remove filter)
The Westgate Run (Re-run) [song version]
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...
Tuesday 3rd December 2024 10:44 pm
The Ballad Of Robert Hode (song version]
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
...Sunday 1st December 2024 12:47 pm
NEW MUSIC ALBUM: WACHEFELD by THE CROWS OF ALBION
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...
Monday 25th November 2024 6:36 pm
The Beast Beneath The Beck [song version]
The Beast Beneath The Beck
The beck at Westgate End is full of reeds,
its water is a muddy shade of brown,
confused ducks die within anaemic weeds
as sunken shopping trolleys pull them down.
Sometimes you hear a cold slithering splash,
as though some ancient creature has slid in
to feast upon the centuries of trash.
Who knows what evils are contained within?
It...
Thursday 21st November 2024 10:30 pm
Laila Liqourice [song version]
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...
Sunday 17th November 2024 2:43 pm
Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb [song version]
Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb
When I was very young it wasn’t very hard
You could find rhubarb in every back yard
A ruby red treasure growing from the ground
Worth its weight in gold and so easily found
Your mother would cook it and put it in a pie
But its very best use – and I tell no lie –
Was to dig it up and treat it like grapes upon the vine
By turning it by magic int...
Monday 11th November 2024 11:36 am
Down In The Hole (song version)
Down In The Hole
My father said it was this life or the dole –
so sacrifice ambition, heart and soul
if our family was to earn a crust
then I would have to work until I was bust
Years of hardship finally took its toll
I had danced to the tune of Old King Coal
and I was laid off, let into the light
a blessing to escape eternal night
I was sixteen, they thre...
Friday 1st November 2024 10:15 am
Spinning Jenny [song version]
Spinning Jenny
When times were hard old Reg Malone
Sent his daughters out to work
And they all went out diligently
Not being ones to shirk
Maria went to Hagenbach’s
And helped to bake the bread
While Jenny went to Albion Mills
To weave the worsted thread
She worked the uncombed worsted yarn
As swift and skilled as any
And those who knew her said of her
...Tuesday 22nd October 2024 12:21 pm
The Blue Lady [song version]
The Blue Lady
This is the tale of Mary Bolles who lived at Heath Old Hall
And died there in 1662 and was buried ‘neath the soil.
But still her spirit walked Heath Grove the story has been writ
Until conjured down into a hole that’s still called Bolles Pit.
The spell was not so powerful to keep her there for long
And soon the tales were told of the sound of her plaintive song
...Thursday 17th October 2024 12:45 pm
The Weeping Angel [song version]
The Weeping Angel
She passed this way and tended to our pain,
administered our wounds and eased our fears
telling us that we would be home again.
stayed by our beds and whispered in our ears,
She was gentle, but never weak or frail,
Remember Nellie Spindler from Wakefield
the only woman killed at Passchendaele
An angel weeps for her in Flanders Field
Once...
Friday 11th October 2024 3:38 pm
Dreadnought [song version]
Dreadnought
We crossed the Chantry Bridge
As the Calder boiled beneath
And a drifting, chilling mist
Hung heavy on the heath
We came from far and wide
Marching all together
To gather at Belle Vue
Despite the dank, inclement weather
There were grandfathers and fathers
There were mothers, daughters, sons
Hand in hand in heavy coats
As bitter cold caresse...
Sunday 6th October 2024 1:30 pm
Cuttings [song version]
Cuttings
Here we go 'round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush.
Here we go 'round the mulberry bush,
On a cold and frosty morning morning.
They took a sprig from Hatfeild Hall
And planted it in Wakefield Gaol
A Mulberry bush grew on the spot
Its humble origins forgot
And there female prisoners exercised at night
Beneath the pale Yorkshire...
Thursday 3rd October 2024 12:17 pm
Marketplace [Song Version]
Marketplace
This space is like a ghost town
Trestle tables row on row
Echoing with the hustle bustle
Vendors cries of long ago
I hold my mother’s hand
And listen to them shout
‘apples sixpence a pound
Come on get your money out!’
I went back there when I was home
All that was left were wooden frames
And rotting boards of each seller’s plot
The faint le...
Tuesday 1st October 2024 10:34 am
Wachefeld [song version]
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...
Saturday 28th September 2024 11:45 am
The Merrie City Serenade [song version]
The Merrie City Serenade
Behind the market hall, riding the Ark
Hand in hand lovers strolling through the park
Carving their initials deep in the bark
on this Merrie City Serenade
Old men and teenagers sitting in The Chance
Ian and Peter refusing to dance
Across the mighty Rafters dance floor expanse
to the Merry City Serenade
On Cannonball hill beneath a ...
Tuesday 24th September 2024 10:53 am
Citizens
Citizens
The Bakers, the Millers, the watchmakers.
The clerics, the priests and the reeves.
The plougher of fields and the sower of seeds.
The bankers, the scoundrels, the thieves.
The farmers, the tailors, the shopkeepers.
The woman who sits home and weaves.
The godless, the hypocrites and sinners.
The bishop who prays and believes.
The innkeepers, drunks and ...
Tuesday 2nd April 2024 9:37 am
Cuttings
Cuttings
They took a sprig from Hatfeild Hall
And planted it in Wakefield Gaol
A Mulberry bush grew on the spot
Its humble origins forgot
And there prisoners exercised at night
Beneath the pale Yorkshire moonlight
Round and round the tree they went
Those sinners who could not repent
Before that Mulberry tree had died
They took some cuttings to the outside
...Saturday 16th May 2020 2:09 pm
NEW POETRY OPEN MIC NIGHT IN WAKEFIELD
I'm hosting a new poetry and comedy open mic night in Wakefield on the 2nd Wednesday of the month starting on Wednesday 12th February.
Entry is FREE and everyone is welcome.
email me to reserve a spot or sign up to perform on the night from 7pm - 7.30pm
Performances will start at 7.30(ish)
More details on the events page or the link (below)
https://www.writeoutloud.net/public/eventvie...
Monday 27th January 2020 12:33 pm
Raising The Standards (With Banners Held High) [MUSIC VERSION]
Raising The Standards (With Banners Held High) [MUSIC VERSION]
You said that you wanted a land fit for heroes,
a place to call home that they’d show off with pride
but somewhere along the way you forgot
the reasons they fought and the reasons they died.
They thought they were fighting for honour and justice,
suppressing the tyrants and saving our land -
but returned ...
Saturday 4th May 2019 5:38 pm
Nearest & Dearest
I don't usually do pre-amble, but in this case it's necessary. I took part in a city team slam last night where one of the requirements was to 'roast' the opposition city in a warm up exercise.
In West Yorkshire, particularly in Rugby League, one of the historic rivalries is between Leeds and my home city of Wakefield - we co-exist just 7 miles apart. I was asked to 'roast' the city of Leeds - ...
Saturday 4th August 2018 10:57 am
The Weeping Angel
The Weeping Angel
She passed this way and tended to our pain,
stayed by our beds and whispered in our ears,
administered our wounds and eased our fears -
telling us that we would be home again.
Once, in her hands, I saw pendant and chain,
I will remember that for many years,
an angel weeping solitary tears
that made me think of the oncoming rain.
She sent it to her ...
Wednesday 4th July 2018 12:05 pm
Once Upon A Time
Once Upon A Time
Pop wagons
rattling and clinking
with their gaudy shades
of potions slopping.
Coal lorries
groaning up the hill
breathing their dragons breath
of carbon dust.
The aged magik
of a ramshackle
cobblers hut
and the clanging of the last.
The shout of
“Rag and Bone”
echoing down
a Monday morning.
Tobacconist
selling chocolate cigars
to little mimics
of the...
Wednesday 6th May 2015 7:09 pm
The Westgate Run
The Westgate Run.
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 laughter gently pours.
...
Tuesday 9th July 2013 10:45 pm
Northern Lights (54th)
Northern Lights (54th)
The Northern Lights are ablaze tonight
And, oh, I’m feeling down.
You never could just treat me right,
You always played around.
This fallen angel’s lost his wings
And come, at last, to ground –
While all the while my world turns
And those Northern Lights go round.
The heavens glow with neon arcs
The skyline blazes brigh...
Thursday 27th June 2013 4:01 pm
Recent Comments
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on A Knight's Resilience
27 minutes ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on I CAN'T CARE FUCKING LESS
1 hour ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on "Forged in Fire, Taught in Halls"
2 hours ago
Sourajit Nandi on "Forged in Fire, Taught in Halls"
8 hours ago
Holden Moncrieff on Rosary.
14 hours ago
TobaniNataiella on Are The Angels Watching Over Me Tonight
14 hours ago
Pete (edbreathe) on Rosary.
15 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on The Word Made Flesh
16 hours ago
Auracle on The Presence Of Sinterklaas Has Just Begun
16 hours ago
Auracle on in starlit sky twinkles
16 hours ago