After the wonderful response I got from posting my poem Ode To Uttoxeter I was inspired to write a new poem about my childhood and #Uttoxeter. It's amazing how many childhood moments, that lasted no more than a few seconds, can inspire a poem and wonder for years to come.
Lost 10p
I still remember that 10p
Nana gave me
in 1975
that I dropped
and never found
on the freshly mown
sun-kissed
grassy bank
outside of the cemetery
where I was born
beside the railway crossing
beyond the park
opposite Dad’s birthplace
Westlands Road
That was nearly 50 years ago
and I sometimes come home
from far off places
and walk alone
past the waterfall
to that place in the park
where the ghosts of bonfire night
still burn
and I look up at the window
of the house in the cemetery
where I inhaled my first breath
in a place where souls
come to rest
after taking their last
I still remember that lost10p
Nana gave me
in 1975
that I dropped
and never found
and wonder if I went to look for it
would I finally find it
still there?
Mark Bird
