Where the heart is
poems
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Opens an envelope of warmth, previously not felt
Arriving to the destiny of your soul
Becoming whole
Solid, steadfast, trusting self, these walls are good for my health
My being in a natural state, I’m sure you relate.
Have you just felt warm and then safe? And the world can just wait
Sometimes it’s in the atmosphere, a chain of events has brought you here, you just know
Settle, roots down, anchored yet free
Nowhere else to be
The wants and desires slip away,
Stay
Manc
I'm a peculiar Mancunian
I love these hills but I grew up playing out on the street
We had no stair carpet for a time it was freezing under your feet
We shared the bath water after
to save money but what laughter
Our jacuzzi was just air bubbles cross my heart
Me and my brothers memories though are all about farts
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I loved a Milky Way but not before tea or there'd be hell to pay you see
The Rag and Bone man we all called him the Bogey Man
We all ran after Corona imagine that! The fizzy pop in a bottle not a can
The lorry man shouted "bottles please" and then we'd choose
Siss Prat Prit , Limeade if you lose
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Imagine this generation with Fizz on tap and in cans , they'd think it seriously bleak
Two bottles in a week
I never ate my crusts, cos my Grandad said I must, they'd give me curly hair and put hairs on my chest
Who wants to be a woman with a hairy breast?
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We played knock a door and run, that'd drive me mad now and we thought it was such good fun
We had a Chippy, a grocer, a butcher,and a paper shop over the road
Not big supermarkets , you're lucky if you've got a local shop
Be told!
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Me brother had a grifter, I had my mums old bike called Pegasus
I loved it though, there was no competition between us
Now you've all got to have the same
Check the price and what's the name?
I was never in Fashion
Even now its not my passion, we couldn't afford it anyway
We had no phones we'd just go out on roller skates and play
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We argued face to face
None of this hiding in Cyberspace
Keyboard warrior? Shout your mouth off where I'm coming from
Never had a limo or a Prom
I'm proper on my box now aren't I John ?
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Forgotten
I never forgot
I just never said
The words were all in there
But they stayed in my head
I ponder it over and over again
Should I have said those words and if so when?
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I never forgot
I just didn't remember
Was it your birthday sometime late in December?
We didn't need expression or stuff for show
Was that the reason then that you let me go?
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I never forgot
I just didn't look in on you
I thought you'd always be there
That's just my romantic view
Now I'm looking at you leaving as I'm sitting in a pew
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I'll never forget
What it is to regret
But this is my lot
To be the one all forgot
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ELIZABETH ELLEN
She wasn't everyones cup of tea
She was never anyones mug
She was the generation that bristled
From too much sentiment or even just a hug
She didn't believe in equality if she wanted to love you more she did
She always gave me treats and presents
But never did the same for Our Kid
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I can only represent her as she was with me
Growing up you're not everyones favourite girl
She treated me like I was meant to be
I had a job with her when I was only 6 helping out in the grocers shop
I had a great time there selling fruit and Veg and I could chat to people non stop
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When I was older and I stayed over after many a clubbing night
She'd be up waiting for me and we'd talk all night til it was nearly light
We had lots of chats but of her early life I wish I had asked her more
She was an only child I think thats why she ended up with four
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She was the Matriarch of the family we all saw each other because of her
I did the family tree and found out secrecy I wish I could have told her about
I would have liked her to see how we've ended up and how my kids have grown
I often think about how after her husband died she did forty years on her own
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To lighter things that I associate with her
The crusty cob pie with an oxo gravy on top
Taking me to Bingo, letting me try my first lager, giving me the pen to do the dots
Playing Jacks behind her house and seeing her teeth in a pot
Saying things like"Oh our John your insides must be rotten"
Holding her nose from the stink of feet that George had had his socks on
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She had a cheeky grin sometimes there
was an air of mischief
Its been a long time since I've seen her she was one of my first real tastes of grief
I like to think that she's watched over me
I've even felt her there a time or two
I've only one regret its when you left this world
I wish I could have been with you
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