Poetry - April 2019


Being Frank

I saw the European premiere several months ago
And now the documentary's out for all to see
It's been an emotional journey for Steve Sullivan
Who kickstarted for funding for the documentary
Trawling through years of archives
Attempting to piece together so much history
And finding out so much behind the man
Behind the mask that was the great Chris Sievey
From being in bands with his brother early on
To the glorious power punk pop of the Freshies
In love with a girl on the Manchester Virgin Megastore checkout desk
But so many great songs delivered with gusto and ease
It was a case of Frank Sidebottom being a character
Originally a fan of the band and an antithesis
But as the public liked the character more and more
It would become the source of humour but also a nemesis
Wanting to be taken seriously for the artist Chris was
But instead having to put on a noseplug and head
Singing songs deliberately odd with a fun ending
And appealing to those who thought humour was dead
I always appreciated the man behind the mask
I felt massively gutted when I heard that Chris has died
Yet the film shows him for the real person he once was
And that for me made me feel sad at the end: I cried
I only hope that in years to come
People watch this documentary film and think like this
Just how fantastic Chris Sievey actually was
You know he is, he really is.

(I watched Being Frank on Blu-Ray when it arrived with The Love In My Heart. She felt quite sad too but it showed the man behind the head and so much good stuff that she could appreciate. You know she did, she really did. Especially when the wind blows.)

Hell Is The Northern Line

They call it the Misery Line
And with good reason too
You don't see no daylight
And that'll make you feel blue
You leave the ground at Golders Green
Heading underneath North London
No chance to surface at all
And that just feels a wrong'un
It's into the centre of London
Either on Bank or Charing Cross branches
And you feel so deep down underground
Tunneling through the trenches
The lines rejoin at Kennington
Still no light to be found
Because the whole of this line
Is all completely underground
You only get to see a small chink of light
As you pull into Morden
The final stop of this hellish journey
Knowing you've got to do it again.

(I think if I did have to travel a long way along the Northern Line tube in London every day, I'd get bloody depressed!)

Don't Stand For Unhappiness

You may have a job
But you don't feel so right
There's something that niggles
In the back of your mind
You're not sure that you perform
At the best when you're there
Maybe there's a sense of fear
That just doesn't quite add up
Something making you feel
Not the person you want to be
And you can't see what you can do
To make it better easily
To my mind there's two things
And the easier of those is to look
And find something else out there
Because working hard reaps rewards
You'll feel valued somewhere else
Doing a professional job properly
And being able to show what you can do
Don't stand for unhappiness
Because it'll make you feel irritable
And not happy about yourself either
And that will never do
Instead look elsewhere
And then have that relief on the face
As you serve that notice period.

(Certainly for me if you're not happy in a job you do, then it's easier to get another job when in one. I have left a job not feeling so happy to one I am relishing and enjoying, primarily because I went out and said to myself to do something about it.)

Red Sunset

The sky is coming down for the evening
I can see the sun on the Western horizon
With the elevated position from the flat
Seeing the sun get lower
And the sky is forming a distant red hue
A sense of setting that sun down
And feeling a real closure to the day
In a beautiful orange and red colour
One that looks majestic as it does
And one that finally disappears
Behind the tall buildings close to home
And one that makes me feel so sad too.

(They say it changes when the sun goes down. Apparently...)

Easter Haiku

I gave up chocolate
So it doesn't matter now
I don't get tempted!

(Best thing I did many years ago, stopped me from going OTT with it all...)