TOM KELLY
Hear
On the train
there is always one
talking too loudly,
wanting you, me
to listen.
They talk of strangers
you begin to know,
their silent responses,
all we have is the too loud voice
from the man I cannot see,
only hear.
The Way Things Were
on the day I was born:
Dad was stripping a roof,
ready to shout to all of Jarrow.
It was a Monday, he said.
I never asked mam. She didn’t say.
I have been to the back-bedroom,
in my late-grandmother’s home,
where I bawled to the ceiling.
The house was crowded: two unmarried uncles,
mam, dad, Granny, Granda and me.
See dad on the roof.
I was born on a Thursday.
Tom Kelly’s most recent collection Walking My Streets is the thirteenth published by Red Squirrel Press and explores Kelly’s life and changing face of his native north-east of England. www.redsquirrelpress.com www.tomkelly.org.uk
Unfortunately I have just spent the last seven days in hospital
after an injury, and haven't been able to process the September issue and will have to move it back to October. Sorry about this. I may not respond to your emails in the usual time as I am on strong meds.
It's not easy getting a book or pamphlet accepted for review these days. So in addition to the regular review section, the One Poem Review feature will allow more poets' to reach a wider audience - one poem featured from a new book/pamphlet along with a cover JPG and a link to the publisher's website. Contact the editor if you have released a book/pamphlet in the last twelve months or expect to have one published. Details here
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