By Sean Chard
Stokes Croft
Last night was the best night I’ve had out in ages
we went to a bar of the Bohemian kind, it had
teapots for lamps and at various stages
we laughed ’til we cried and read from the pages
of works by Coleridge, Zephania and Heaney
Last night was the best night I’ve had out in ages
I invested my time and all of my wages
in pizza and wine, just enjoying this space with its
teapots for lamps and at various stages
drawings of Beardsley and photo’s of sages
there were sweets on the bar, foreign journals and cakes
Last night was the best night I’ve had out in ages
they had chalk in the loos and the walls were my pages
so I chalked up a comment to say what I thought
and the ten words I used to make my report
were scrawled out in lime, I was drunk, it took ages –
tonight is the best night I’ve had out in ages.
Four Days
DAY 1
Living on lockdown with not much to do
The cat, the dog, the me and the you
The cat’s in poor spirits with nothing to kill
The mice are on lockdown, the birds are all ill
So we sit on the stairs and stare at the wall
We sit here and to try make sense of it all
We glance at each other in total dismay
Just stare at the wall for the rest of the day.
DAY 2
We created a list to catch up with our stuff
But the time on our hands has made it quite tough
We’ve left all our bits and bobs on the floor
A trail of disaster for us to ignore
Like a pair of gazelles we leap over trash
The ballet of lockdown without the panache
This dance of disorder is keeping us fit
And helping us put it all off for a bit.
Day 3
The only person I see delivers our veg
He traverses our bins, our bikes and the hedge
And places our cardboard clad veg on the floor
Knocks and then runs at full pelt from the door
At a safe distance he waves me goodbye
But as I wave back there’s a tear in my eye
Coz inside the box there’s some unwelcome news
He’s forgotten the crisps, the sweets and the booze.
Day 4
Today I do Tai-chi in front of the telly
The person on YouTube’s reducing my belly
She tells me to hug an invisible tree
While pushing an orb and breathing gently
Her skill is amazing she moves with such grace
While my moves have landed me flat on my face
I give up the Tai-chi for something more fitting
To bend at the knees for eating and sitting.
Sean Chard is a graduate of the Open University, where he gained a BA in Humanities with Distinction in Creative Writing. Chard has featured in various publications including Popshot Quarterly, HereComesEveryone, The Crank, Bounds Green Book Writers and Weston Writers Nights.
The first poem is in response to having some freedom after lockdown, the other is about the first four days of the first lockdown. Both have been published before one on Bounds Green Book Writers website and Stokes Croft in Weston Writers Nights magazine.