Spikey

[Spikey]

A Birmingham Childhood Remembered

[FONT=&quot]Oh deeply missed,you Bull Ring, miscellany of stalls,
A youthremembered, clutching coat hem, wide-eyed.
Wigs, salami,gaudy rings, old shoes, the raucous Brummie calls,
Bouncing off thewalls.

“’ ’andy carrier!”Thickly yelled, and “Apples a pound pears!”
A languageunderstood by all, a Midlands code in grey oldBrum
Co-existent withthe church
Cups of orangetea, chips, prayers.

The big red busesveering madly through the melee, blocking roads
The smell ofdiesel, dripping raincoat, Hippodrome –
“One Night Only –Frankie Laine!”
Peered at throughthe rain.

Lewis’s with itsrubber road and magical roof top gardens
Where Uncle HollyChristmas time dispensed largesse
Along with tinyBrummie elves
Playingthemselves.

Further backagain, the smog, a grey-green poison, part of play;
Where we wouldhide and breathe in death
And smell itsfumes in muffled day.
And creep andgrope our homeward way.[/FONT]

 

[Spikey]

Me, Othe Me
I hada voice inside my head that hissed and whispered subtle things.
Itried translating what it said, its rhythms, its insidious wings
Thatfluttered just behind my eyes, that washed my senses clean away;
Andthough it told me wicked lies, I thought it spoke not of decay,
Ofhorrors, but of angel wings.

Thevoice – I called it Other Me – crooning as a lover’s sigh,
Lullingme within my skull to instigate a mad reply.
Andthough it spoke of love of sorts, a soup of feelings round me flowed,
Yetstill I could not break the code,
Butyearned to tell the voice goodbye.

Butnow the Other Me has fled, inhabiting who knows what space?
Andleft me here, becalmed and blank, presenting but an empty face;
Surroundedby some careful others, gentle handling of my needs –
Whonever question, never judge, and deftly dismiss past misdeeds.

Imiss Other Me.

 

[Spikey]

Sssizzle
Sweet sizzling in my vein today, and everything seemsbrighter.
Insidious hissing in my brain, and life seems sharper,whiter.
My edges blurred, an inner fizz
That thrills and enervates alike.
I’m slower, dreamy, broken down
My heart rate peak and spike.

Wondrous sparking round my brain, and ....! I’m God, I am!
The knowledge hurts my skull, the thought that everything’sa sham.
My eyeballs itch, my eyelids twitch
I hear a song, it must be me
But coming deep within some other
Me, a stoned-out zombie of a bitch.

The racing heart tick tocks my life, and good stuff fills upmy vein,
Luscious sleep fights alien limbs and maybe it’s insane –
But me and my fix, my whole box of tricks
Take me somewhere far off,
Out there, better world,
A whole other way to get kicks.

 

[Spikey]

Home Town
Cor’help it, Oi love it, my Birminghamtown,
Theyluvvly, them bostin’, black, white and brown;
Allusa curry just around the bend,
Acrackin’ humour that wun’t never offend.

Intown, the crowds, noise and crush!
Yo wun’tnever believe the manic mad rush.
Thestores, they’m all heaving, the cafes, the bars,
It’schallenging crossing the road with the cars.

Canals! More than Venice, so Oi’ve bin told,
Thoughthe boats aren’t the same once the rain rusts the gold,
Still– in summer, you might hear an Eyetie in song,
AndBrummies, they cor but help sing along.

Parks,museums, a fabulous hall
Wheresymphony concerts can really enthral,
Yes,we do culture – we’m posh, certain parts,
Thoughit ‘as to be said lots of blokes prefer darts.

Life’smore than buildings, concrete, glass
Morethan division of colour and class,
It’shumour, history, catastrophies, art ….
It’shome, I’m a Brummie, it’s part of my heart.

 

[Wendy]

Lovely poem Spikey it did make me smile...