Poetry Blog by Martin Elder
There's a town
There’s a town
Where there is a street
Where are all the cobbles polished
By the rain
Solid and set for good
Each and every house one after another joined at the hip
Slates cut perfectly aligned
Where the rain falls
In steady showers
Off rooves down pipes
From cast iron
Black as night gutters
And doors shuttered but never locked
Red steps meticulously cleaned
...Sunday 10th November 2019 11:31 am
Born into this suit
In this house there are many rooms
And in the rooms are many cupboards
And in the cupboards are many clothes
Clothes in which we dress
And seek to shed to suit the mood
Suits in which to parade and hide
And yet we never truly own with pride
They are that which we are born too
That which comes in many shapes shades and sizes
Some to the untrained eye are ill fitting
So...
Friday 1st November 2019 8:53 am
Bring on the night
Bring on the night
The open sky
Let it be beyond the neon flashing glow
Far away from the on off metronome signs
And ceaseless click clack chatter
Turn off the raging sun
And naked searchlight sky
Let me be beyond the reach of carefully mapped out streets
Let my guide to the after light be the stars
And pitted spotlight moon
Let me see and feel the perfect quiet
of...
Wednesday 2nd October 2019 9:13 am
Smoky joints and hard bitten smiles
He moves out from the shadows
Stepping under the spotlight streetlight sign
Dark coat fedora and a single smoke signal curls
Up and around
No words spoken as he leans against
The lamp post
Waiting patiently for
The patent sound
Of her heels hitting the sidewalk
To take him off his guard
A lipsticked pencil skirted honey
With too much to lose
And not enough to ...
Monday 2nd September 2019 10:33 am
Speechless naked feet
Speechless naked feet
Brush the boards
Where carpets are bare to tread
In threadbare pile
Of warm worn through
Early spring sun
Long legs languid and fair
With hairs that stand up
Feeling the fresh air rush of the tingling chill
Coming up through floorboard cracks
And the regular slap of skin against wood
As she walks in just an old man’s shirt
Running the fing...
Monday 29th July 2019 9:14 am
Battle for the beach
It is coming to that time of year
When battalions will assault the beach
Running marching plodding and tramping
Some dancing and lighting fires
Occasionally fornicating
An army armed with windbreaks
Mats dogs and towels
Bikinis shorts and trunks
Some with acres of flesh
Which wobble and supplicate to the merest movement
Others finely chiselled models
Of what is be...
Monday 22nd July 2019 9:19 am
Everything rusts
When we try to hold on
To the handles that no longer turn
The keys that no longer fit
The jokes that are no longer funny
The lies that we told to get ourselves
Through the year of days
We can say that they are full of rust
When the hinges on the doors remain stuck fast
And we have hung on to the paper clippings
Of a love that collects dust
The engine and the bra...
Friday 12th July 2019 9:13 am
Lost in space
His face was as dark and grizzled
As the thoughts running through his head
His half -shaved expression breaking up with a confused grin
Laying on his bed he spoke to whoever might listen
Whether there or in his head
This stranger in a strange land
Misunderstood by others and himself
He cuddled and coddled the memories
Behind his darting deepening eyes
As he walked throug...
Monday 1st July 2019 9:22 am
Sometimes
Words sneak up on me
Come up behind me
Grab me round the throat
Gag and starve me of all else
Beat me about the head
Until my mouth
My pen release them
A teeming, fighting stream
Of conscious thought
Storming an unconscious self
Words that nag and push me around
Like a long-lost friend
Assaulting my senses
Lying dormant for a time
In sleepy tired dreams
...Monday 24th June 2019 5:33 pm
Eddie Condon's apprentice
It was the smell of leather that hit me first
Old crisp leather
Well used
Beginning to crack around the straps
One of the buckles slightly bent
He shuffled nervously from one foot to another
As he entered the flat
A friend of a friend
His polished black shoes
And well- worn overcoat hanging over his slender frame
Gave him the appearance of a door to door salesman
...Thursday 13th June 2019 5:05 pm
How many tonight
The night is as thick as coal dust
As the night shift starts
The electricity keeps going out
No lights, no oxygen
Who will die tonight?
Back on again
A Doctor sprays the room before the start of her shift
To protect against the dreaded fly
Among the sweat and heat the medics loose blue uniforms move around
With needles and gloves
Children cry with pain
Some vomit...
Monday 3rd June 2019 9:41 am
Feckless youth
Oh, dissolute and feckless youth
When wiliest thou surrender to all that is given
Wiliest thou not seize with both hands
All that is offered and granted freely to thee
The boundless pounding rhythm that rises in thy chest
Does thou not recognise all that lays
In rich and fertile soil
Beneath the crust of barely hidden dust
Wilt thou not lift thy face and greet the sun
...Monday 20th May 2019 2:06 pm
Another visit
Daylight finally comes
In yawning unrepentant stages
And I want to shrug off the sleep of the night
Turn off the bleep and cheep unholy communion of monitors
The farting
The coughing
The snoring
The swearing
The confusion from the bed next door
But its nearly six o’clock
And time for temperatures
The blood pressure measure
Of heart rates and blood taken
...
Tuesday 7th May 2019 9:01 pm
Making tracks
The dog track is closed now
The rabbits packed his bags
And gone to find himself
The dogs hang around in street corner packs
Tripping up old grannies
And stealing little kids’ sweets
On Sundays chasing balls on the sand by the coast
The older ones retired and live in a home
Some others died early on
Not able to take the strain
The dog tracks cinders have been kic...
Monday 1st April 2019 10:45 am
city of birth
My mother had recently remarked
That despite her desires
I had ended up being a townie
I reflected on this
As I left the town of my birth
With the slightest hint of regret
The train jangling along
The sun shining on all it looked upon
a mighty searchlight
Highlighting every last detail
Across the backs of high terraced houses
That seem to shiver
Steeped on three...
Friday 1st March 2019 8:51 am
Winters past
There were winters past
When we walked across
Paths and tracks with mac’s
And coats that floated in harsh torn winters gale
Upon fields of white stalked green
Steady crisp crunching footsteps
Marked our trail
On crushed even grass
Trying to avoid the rutted tractor tyre puddles
Of snarking bracken waters splash
Laughing over bootfulls of over eager tread
Of h...
Friday 1st February 2019 7:22 pm
Another hot night
It’s another hotshot night in the Steaming town
Of screaming wailing sirens
Crowned with singing and dancing
Pumping thumping music coloured lights
Among the daily dilly dally splashing of flower laden heights
bathing in the fountain
washed in freezing frothy folly filled pints
And shots with shouts
Of she’s just another
Among the glut of burning talent
Who strut the ...
Friday 11th January 2019 10:35 pm
Recent Comments
Martin Elder on There's a town (8 days ago)
john short on There's a town (9 days ago)
Martin Elder on Born into this suit (Thu, 14 Nov 2019 07:49 pm)
Martin Elder on There's a town (Thu, 14 Nov 2019 07:47 pm)
Hannah Collins on Born into this suit (Wed, 13 Nov 2019 10:20 pm)
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Martin Elder on There's a town (Mon, 11 Nov 2019 09:38 am)
Kate G on There's a town (Sun, 10 Nov 2019 01:10 pm)
Martin Elder on Born into this suit (Mon, 4 Nov 2019 06:25 pm)
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