Midcenturyology Poems

The detached voice of a guide book Sets aside remnants of the forever Of the green lane, bricked up door and inglenook Declares there to be “no special features of interest” Leave the foxed hard back pages alone  Look up, look around, walk boundaries Seek stories in church, pub, stone - One of them is bound to know something  The way the land sits, the contours of road Memorials, place names and weeds This dismissal shrugs the legwork load From an author who had run A charming little history of village halls is available here

There's no top layer of Tarmac On the concrete cul-de-sac  -  Car tyres threaten thunder They know it's temporary here Wheels, feet, slapping oars -  We're just passing On comes the next layer When tides bring it -  We won't be here forever What is Midcenturyology? It's the mid 20th century way of looking at geography, archaeology and local history. It's AA touring books, Red Guides or Shell archaeology gazetteers. It's Dalesman magazines or exhibitions at the Festival of Britain. You might glance it on an old railway poster or on a postcard. It is art and poetry that celebrates places and the people that made them in the pre computer age that I come from. Search Amazon for my book "Temporary Accommodation" It is the late 1940s and Old Vic Theatre trained actress Marigold Walbrook is languishing in a suburban repertory theatre. Having lost her home and parents in a V2 attack, her landlady is the nearest she has to a family. When Marigold's half...