Home Town
the cats are chasing their shadows in the kitchen
the dog looks confused
they’re all waiting for food
I feed them and make myself some breakfast
then I go to work
I try to take a new route
so that I can sit in a traffic jam
with a different view –
an abandoned mobility scooter
in a vandalised bus shelter
Worthing town
I never know what to think of you
even on the calmest days
the high street is windblown
and gloomy
shoppers look haunted
it seems just about right
that as soon as I step off the train
at West Worthing station
it always starts raining
when we moved here
about 15 yrs ago
I got called a cunt
because I was in somebody’s
way as I walked on the pavement
my daughter spoke to her friend
on the phone from Brighton
she was only 8 at the time
I overheard the conversation
and was quite proud when I heard her respond
to the question
‘what’s it like there?’
she replied
‘like a nazi fortress’