Searching for an poem I’d written back in the 1960s which I wanted to use to illustrate a post I was writing I dragged a dusty Aldi bag out of a cupboard and discovered probably the whole of my poetic oeuvre from that period. Dozens if not hundreds of poems, naturally of varying quality: some good, some bad, mostly indifferent, and just a few which I still think are very good. At the very least they mark an era in my life which in the context of this mainly autobiographical blog, are worth recording. I’ll add them here gradually over time.
The first one is mentioned in Moss Side Story, and is allegedly what led my future wife to think I might be worth taking a closer look at.
For Whom the Bell Falls is an elegy on the disappearance of old buildings including Haigh and Hochland the university bookshop Oxford Road around Manchester University preparatory to creating a pedestrian higher education precinct along that road towards the city. It never quite worked out like that, but what did I know back in 1968?
One Day was written sometime in 1969. I used to enjoy writing very short poems that told a story (of sorts) and that is all this is.
Poor Jack the Children’s Friend is another from 1969, and was inspired by my seeing a pet’s grave somewhere. I can’t for the life of me remember where or when. In the movie Optimists of Nine Elms, starring Peter Sellers, the pet cemetery in Hyde Park plays a big part, and reminded me of the existence of this poem, but I certainly hadn’t seen it then, nor have I been to look for it yet. If I do I’ll put on a post about it.