Saturday, November 23, 2019

Peter Barrett composed a poem about me. Se generous - so beautiful.




BHP



You’re in a tough spot

I try to stand near you

In solidarity of a sort



I cannot experience your anxiety

But I know how you feel

I always know how you feel 



You are that rare breed

A huge heart for youth

Those bundles of energy and hurt, left dangling



Look at the upstream, not the downstream

Everyone is fighting a battle we do not understand

Growth does not reside in a place called comfortable



This wisdom has been carved

From Lancashire terraces and East London tower blocks

The backstreets of heaven



From midnight clubs to a multi-storey YMCA

To chaotic canvas cities packed to the rafters

Where trifle trickles down your neck



The land of the blob

Where gutter feelings are shared, always shared

Through unique fingertip touching



Your accent makes me smile

Just down the road from me, but so different

The land of pies and refracted glass



Rugby league, not football

I can forgive you that

At least we like the same band



In our café liaisons

You are constantly connecting

With staff, with strangers



Your gift of making someone feel 

They are being listened to

Perhaps for the first time



The most beautiful flower

Is the one that pops up through a crack

In the concrete



That’s you in a nutshell


Peter Barrett