Category Archives: Poetry

You wanted a quiet life To be left alone They wanted to hound you To make their presence felt To make you disappear. Doorways gave you shelter They always found you Moved you on That did not satisfy Fear being … Continue reading →

Past blackened buildings Telling another story But this was the swinging 70’s Or maybe not so swinging more swingeing. The Headrow beckoned Debenhams, Lewis’ Schofields Littlewoods, Stead and Simpsons Past Dolcis, Clark’s, Dunn & Co Tobacco shops aplenty, Capstan and … Continue reading →

Chapeltown 1955/56, a hive of ethnic diversity. Jews, Irish, Poles and a scattering of others dwelt in large Victorian terraced houses, many of which had been converted into flats. This was a whole world away from the life I’d lived … Continue reading →

They glare at each other across the wide expanse of Headingley Lane – two brick-armoured behemoths ready to joust in defence of pecuniary gain and student thirst. Sturdy knights of alcohol, they will contest the field of honour to the … Continue reading →

I’m born into the Cockney tribe, known mostly for Pearly Kings and Queens, rhyming slang, and possibly dealing in things that fell off the back of a lorry. As a family we have zero to do with the royals and … Continue reading →

Memories of a French 20 something, 1972 Motorway city of the Seventies. That is what it said on the envelope. So, I found out I would be off to Leeds, And I wondered how I’d manage to cope. But Yorkshire … Continue reading →

Look up to where The Grimshaw skylines Sit above the coffee bars. By the city station, Venetian towers of catalogues and wool Stand over the Aire as it pushes to Hull. Take the slow canal west towards Liverpool, To the … Continue reading →