Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Lewis Wyn Davies Sep 2020
On the west cheek of a town's unpainted face,
a mole in the shape of an abandoned tower block
stands and surveys all the veins and dead skin
at its base, there's a cycle path system that never tires,
heels stuck in white, blue and gold Converse shoe
marched through, then flew down those tarmac miles,
every number on the clock face must have held a hand
for the times when I ran full pelt, after nights out,
to save cash, but also to stay alive, as the magic
would ***** out once my key found the jagged
and hollow black hole it was designed to enter,
so I danced with horses, sleepwalking all morning.
Poem #28 from my collection 'A Shropshire Grad'. This is a bittersweet poem about my hometown. I have to remind myself of the tough times I spent there whenever I look back at my youth with grandeur and contemplate going back.
Lewis Wyn Davies Sep 2020
A single magpie
follows,
mocks my folly
down the silky path.
Watches me pass
old railway stations.
Hops around
mad vegetation.
Trembles like
a rabid dog in dirt.
Stands waiting
above tunnels
and unnamed bridges,
heading straight for
the south coast.

I exit the wood
with thumbs up.
Pull off my ear defenders
to let lobes
cool off
in oxygen pools.
Enter through the side door.
All rules abandoned
like dog tearing up fox.
We eat white loaves,
eggs poached,
plastic potatoes,
a couple of items off
the children's menu.
My appetite is applauded
and I'm thankful for
such a throwback feast.

Next, drowsiness
lets itself in.
Both chef and beast
access the same dream.
I'm left with
a handful of passions
and tattoos repeated.
Bite off *******.
Still chewing rings
when elder spits out
the only tongue
he's ever taught me
to imitate.

His knowing look
of devilish frenzy,
our cook wakes up
to nod along
with the crazy.
Dog jumps up
and licks master's chin.
Begin to think about
untouched piano keys
hidden behind that
golden mouth.
Hope for the carpet
finally retired.
Look through the
chintzy cabinet
filled with the same
**** since '86.
Imagine knocking out
that wall
my family is so afraid
to see fall.
Street becomes
a magpie nest.
Out of  
the warren's way.
Poem #9 from my collection 'A Shropshire Grad' is about hidden discrimination and coming to terms with seeing it among your own family circles.
Lewis Wyn Davies Sep 2020
Let's take a dive through my home estate,
a place I've tried to escape since my first brainwave.
I'll show you flat roofs and wayward avenues,
shopping trolleys that become steeds at two in the morning
next to mowed down greenery lying abandoned due to overuse.
I used to deliver newspapers along this route.
This spot, right here, has a great Wrekin view.
Back in my youth, it reminded me of you -
new roads, new horizons, new people to meet.
Let's keep moving to the end of the street
where a house is sent letters from the wicked government,
asking a mother if she's recovered from her own ill head.
Like her bed is four-poster when she can barely pay rent.
Her pathway displays a name written in cement.
Our descent continues with the drop-offs at Maccies.
A clock towers over us while we're waiting for taxis
to take us out of this place and onto higher plains
with house party nights and endless summer days.
But our dreams remain chained like bicycle frames,
The keys are locked away, we pray
in cars under stars, they say
we can be anything we want to be.
Such as royalty, or prime minister of this great country,
if we work as hard as anyone who's born into money.
So we hunt for hidden weaponry, hoping they see our cannon fire
and where spirits only fade, there will one day be a parade.
Poem #1 from my collection 'A Shropshire Grad'. This poem describes some of my experiences growing up poor in the suburb of Donnington, Telford.

— The End —