The Sixties

Quilted nylon dressing gown -
 pink,melted hem
quilted nylon anorak - 
stained, threads hanging.
Soggy paper straw 
as I drank my school milk
from the little glass bottle
from the huge metal crate
in the school corridor.

I played on my own:
the Queen of Peacock Land.
I rode my invisible horse
in omnipotent splendour
inspecting tiny workshops
where expert craftsmen
the best in Peacock Land
set precious jewells for me!
Saturday morning : Radio One
sweet swirls of those songs
even now drift in delicately
to serenade my consciousness.

Being scared of the roller skates 
that strapped around your shoes.
The whole street out playing.
Waiting outside my mum's work 
Jubbly bags and love heart sweets.
Beautifully synchronised dancing 
and ethereal harmonies 
of the black singing groups
in white sequinned suits
on our black and white TV
to little me
exotically american.


No Vietnam
No race riots or Parisian students
just doctor Zachary Smith and the robot
and school and church
and church and school.
One young teacher jaunty and jolly
sporting beehives and miniskirts
and kitten heeled coloured shoes:
she'd more than one pair!
I stood by the school window
watching the tower blocks grow.
They still impose upon the town 
now weary and forlorn
their promised better life 
long hoped for
long vanished.

Now : another century.
I dream of walking home from school
over the little hill
where then still stood
(but not for long)
a terrace of Victoriana
and the Empire Music Hall
where Marie Lloyd no less had sung.......
We ate our tuppenny crusty rolls
whilst walking home from school
I skipped and peered 
over the black brick bridge
to watch the tower blocks grow.

Tags: