Poetry from my first book of poems on Amazon - Kaleidoscope

All in, All in, Wherever you Are!

Voice trails of childhood games
echo through the dusk filled streets.
Alone, realising they’ve gone,
no longer searching for me,
and leaving me hiding in an empty garden shed
with a stray cat brushing against my legs,
I begin the long walk home.

Passing the Empire, wondering what’s showing,
the queue is going in, now I’ll be for it,
it’s later than I think.
I dawdle under the purple glow of gas lamps,
admire my alien skin, the iron-clad transporter clanks
and groans across the Tees.

I don’t look down, imagining
the black, oily water swirling beneath my feet,
closing over my head. I shudder,
the thrill of being out so late is gone,
the choking smell of coal fires in damp air,
and the yellow smog from the chemical factory
burns my throat.

Glimpsing through dank, dark alleyways
an exciting glow of dog racetrack behind the shops,
a strange smell from the funeral parlour
fills me with imagined horrors,
makes my flesh creep.

Leaping the whirling chip shop papers along the street,
I thump a row of dustbins, my grandma’s home in sight,
and shout to keep the ghouls away,
clench my fists, and loudly smack my sandals
along the back to backs.

Then down the narrow passageway,
where painted bricks sweat water droplets,
and into kitchen warmth.
Under the dim light from the single bulb,
the dog turning himself inside out in greeting,

I hear the crunch of the mangle,
sniff the smell of scorching tea towel, and baking bread.
Wriggling on the slippy, leathery seat behind the gate-legged table,

Dislodging the bobbled chenille cloth in search of homemade cake,
I scatter jigsaw pieces to shouts of stop it,
and happily tell a garbled tale of why I’m late.

from Kaleidoscope
C.A.Carr.