The most recent Leeds Savages writing session had the rather improbable topic of 'Chichester Fortescue'...! Wikipedia informed me that the Right Honorable Mr Fortescue was actually a 19th century politician, but this didn't exact inspire me, so I instead wrote a short poem which is arguably 50% on topic given that it's based on growing up in Chichester.
Unfortunately tonsil troubles meant that I didn't get to hear any of my fellow Savages efforts to tackle the topic, but am hoping that some might have found their way onto the forum at www.leedssavage.com as it never fails to amaze me how such a broad range of works springs out of each topic. There are some truly talented people in the group (definitely not including myself in this category - would instead define myself as 'rusty!') so it's definitely worth checking out the website. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll add it to your favourites....
Now, on to the rhyming.....!
NOVIOMAGUS
REGINORUM
We
often felt this was no place to be young
A
haven for the blue rinsed but no hotbed of fun
We
didn’t care for the long dead Romans
Their
renowned walls and their feted gates
All
we longed for was a bit of excitement
To
travel on roads which were far less straight.
Not
a second glance as we danced past the Arundel tomb
Upon
which Larkin mused about love
To
the choir stalls where we’d gossip and scheme
With
little thought for the big man above.
Outside
we’d congregate around the Cross
Where
for 500 years our forebears had been meeting
Little
did we appreciate the yet unrevealed truth
That
the freedom of youth would be fleeting.
We’d
bemoan the fact that there was nowhere to go
Unless
tearooms and charity shops were your style
The
nearest nightclub was a tipsy bus ride away
The
nearest multiplex many a mile.
Most
of us never grew into the ill-fitting
blazers
bought to serve 5 years of school
Hitched
our skirts bum-cheek high in an attempt to project
The
slightest semblance of cool.
And
most of our days were idyllic
Though
at the time we hadn’t a clue
How
precious were happiness, health, the freedom to build
The
very foundations of You.
Until
dark times taught us that the cards we are dealt
Are
not always the ones we’d choose
Reality
sets in and childhood is cast
Away
like yesterday’s news;
In
that time, in that place, in the history we made
We
learned that life is built from light and shade.
Being not at all cool at least a decade ago....
