GLEAM

By the time you read this I will be miles away.

Not miles. That doesn’t do justice.

I will be an immensity away. Let me explain.

Throughout your lives I was there for you

but never knew you ,could never know you.

I was long gone before any of you were born

But I have reflected often, and you,

clever things, found ways to exploit me.

Found ways to harness my exhaust.

Time in a bottle is a neat trick

but don’t show me the snapshots.

Your entire being is a done deal.

Your maudlin histories are alien to me.

I am ahead of the curve.

Riding the wave and it matters

little to me what lies ahead.

The journey is it’s own reward.

Luckily for you there is no end in sight.

Tony Noon

                                                                                                                       
                                                                           <a href="http://worldartsme.com/">WorldArtsMe</a>

THAT SWING

The taps are out of tune.

Thundering through the wall

their frantic syncopation

celebrates stars while sticks

born hoofers bathe in mud.

Disdaining mills they are

factory fodder nonetheless

manufacturing dreams

to be unfulfilled by millions.

The taps are out of time.

In our bigger picture

it don’t mean a thing.

Tony Noon

DON'T WE ALL

TUBE

TUBE

each day each way

a corridor of crisis.

net generated precedence

for the time constrained.

and the news the views

are almost real

in this text fed medium.

I am my neighbour’s story

reading over her shoulder

until the freesheet drops,

  her fingers fidgeting

      as if drug scandals

           and war scandals

            and celebrity scandals

could leave residues for skin to absorb.

each day, each way

a corridor in crisis.

Ted Hughes Poetry Festival 2016

The Ted Hughes Poetry Festival is an annual event in Mexborough , South Yorkshire , celebrating the work of the former UK Poet Laureate , who died in 1998.

Whilst much is known about the poet's later life , including his marriage to Sylvia Plath , and his affection for Mytholmroyd in West Yorkshire , his formative years were spent in Mexborough , where his parents had a newsagent's shop in the late 1930s and 40s.

The inaugural event in 2015 was built around a presentation by Steve Ely about Hughes' early years in Mexborough and a walking tour , now referred to as The Ted Hughes Trail , which takes in many of the places he knew and drew inspiration from ... including The Ferry Boat Inn , and The George & Dragon public house (both still working pubs).

The above poem draws on some of the issues raised in Steve Ely's presentation.