Flashback at The Petrol Pump
No victory parade no ticker tape
Another insurgent to incarcerate
No anniversary of the victory day
No street parties to simply say
You went somewhere son, and won
You did what had to be done
Left right turn around about face
Left the world in one united state
It’s not like the 1st world war nor the second
It’s not like that his granddad reckoned
Not quite sure if he’s been had
So what did you do in the war dad
He’s seen cities blown up black hawks down
Black water surf boarding through ghost towns
His eyes well up in the forecourt, in his throat a lump
I can’t get petrol from the pump. he whispered
He can’t get petrol from the pump.
The Prince Who has no family (A CHILDRENS POEM)
The prince who ahs no family watches all the others
Sisters with brothers and fathers with mothers
And he watches how they touch and how they shout
And he watches them stay still and fall out
Catching buses and trains and taxis and planes
The Prince who has no family stands in the rain
The prince who has no family watches the others
Sisters with brothers and fathers with mothers
He watches them laugh and sometimes cry
He watches them grow and sometimes die
He watches them coo and watches them call
He watches them doing things and no things at all
The prince who has no family watches the others
isters with brothers and fathers with mothers
He watches old hands holding young hands
And sees their footsteps pepper the sand
He watches them argue and he wishes it were true
That he had someone to argue with too.
Hey Lemn,
I listened today. Really liked The Prince Who Has No Family!
See you soon,
Yem
Interesting show today. I am pleased that I read The Prince. Thanks.
Yes..that Prince is lovely. I always like poems about watching and it's a very good one.
I agree that Prince is what it is. It is written and published whereas the other poem was written on the day then broadcast to the nation. Though Flashback at the Pump has not the tried and tested history of Prince I am proud of it because of what it says to an audience who may not be as likely to hear such things in terms of art. I am proud of it because it acknowledges the demographic of the radio four audience. I am proud of it because it is ahead of the news. Within twenty four hours of the broadcast George Bush was in London. However, artistically it is one draft short of a poem. I suppose I am also proud that it is on its way towards somewhere…..