I was told at the weekend that there's a John Hegley poem about growing up in Luton and then moving to Bristol (he went to Sixth Form in Mangotsfield), comparing the difference between the two places. Anyone know anything about this? In the meantime, here's his poem*, Luton:
(A poem about the town of my upbringing and the conflict between my working-class origins and the middle-class status conferred upon me by a university education)
I remember Luton
as I'm swallowing my crout'n.
(A poem about the town of my upbringing and the conflict between my working-class origins and the middle-class status conferred upon me by a university education)
I remember Luton
as I'm swallowing my crout'n.
*Anything Charlotte can do....
the Luton poem you have cited is from his collection 'can I come down now dad?'
ReplyDeleteFrom the range of his writing Hegley seems quite well travelled, perhaps on account of his travelling around doing gigs.
His tribute to my neck of the woods appeared in another volume called 'Glad to wear Glasses', he wrote:
Blackburn and Preston
one of the main differences
between Blackburn and Preston
is that Preston
is more western
----------
He clearly has a more intimate knowledge of Bristol tho (wikipedia mentions he grew up there) as a few pages on in the same volume he writes an almost Proustian reverie:
Bradford to Bristol
from Bradford Yorkshire
to Bristol Temple Meads
you don't have to change your underwear
but you do have to change at Leeds
I can do that! how about...
ReplyDeleteOne of the main differences
between Clifton and Easton
is that Easton
is more eastern
Brilliant or what?