This poem was published in 'In Our Own Words',

edited by Marlow Peerse Weaver; ISBN 0 9654136 3 2

 

Northern Sleep

 

Dream of the street

Mantled in blue and neon.

On dusk. Beached whale cars

Half hitched to pavements

strewn with brick

and pieces of pram or child's toy.

For garden gates half hung or

Proclaiming better

The echo of children and dogs.

The lights of the town

Blink, sharp rails past countless homes.

Dream of the street, below

Clear skies or foggy with the

Morning sun and endless

Tasks, Dream of the streets.

On hill. On mile upon mile with

The tragedy and pain and the brief

Laughter, slaked between sheets.

To stand infinite, repeated.

 

Easter 1997