In the city

This week's Theme Poetry from Sara-Jane Arbury was based on cities. She gave us a brief history of the rise of cities.

 
Recently we have been watching Jay Blades: The Midlands Through Time which has been really interesting.  It's on Channel 5 catch up if you're interested.  I was almost tempted to use that as inspiration for the city poem but decided instead to write about commuting.

We always start this session with an unrelated piece of writing.  This was based on a poem called Vulnerable by Elma Mitchell, which starts 'Everything is ..'

In the Close 

Everything is quiet by 10pm.
The Close is almost silent.
Just one or two late arrivals home.
The teenager brought home
by his girlfriend’s mother.
No more deliveries, no Amazon Prime
or supermarkets trucks.
No phone calls. It’s impolite
to phone after ten o’clock
isn’t it?
Downstairs lights off, upstairs lights
turned off. The only lights
the moon and the street lamps
shining in the darkness.

Suburban Lives 

Short, suburban trains, stopping
at suburban stations,
wend their way to the city centre,
racing between the stops.
Hurrying people to their destination.
No eye contact made.
All looking at their phones
or studiously ignoring fellow travellers.

Rushing through the station, commuters
strangely eager to reach their desks
displaying a keenness to get the day over
when in the late afternoon, they can return
to their slower suburban lives. 

 

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice