About ashyvicar

a sunderland following, wire re-watching, kingdom come deliverance playing, boygenius listening, Gustavo Gutierrez reading shy vicar from county durham (not forgetting Caravan Palace, Christine & the Queens , Wolf Alice, Lana Del Rey, Fontaines DC, Young Fathers, R.E.M & countless others...

Night Driving

Posted on April 26, 2023 by ashyvicar

it’s just me
and an SD card on shuffle
driving through sleepy Cumbrian towns
past the witching hour

I want to wake the dead
with Billy MacKenzie
phoning his brother up as loud as he can
reminisce at the top of my voice
shouting out biting political satire
outside streets of curtained windows

Windermere
Kendal
Grayrigg
Tebay
Kirby Stephen
the potholes of the Tory years
present persistent danger to life and limb
lurking as they do
in dark tarmacadam

the 66
the bunny highway
grass like an Ecstasy of Gold
for floppy eared friends
gathering on the verge

and then it’s on into County Durham
passing through one Barnard Castle
where it was said
a man once amazingly regained his sight
whilst driving blind

but the streets recognise
what ain’t necessarily so
as these are the pavements
where Dickens once stretched his legs
and cogitated about time
poverty
and bullying

Staindrop
Raby Castle’s deer and ghosts
Evenwood Gate
West Auckland
then left along the 68
through Spring Gardens
Toft Hill
Witton-le-Wear
Fir Tree
Tow Law
just me
and an SD card on shuffle
running on the spot
running up that hill

Rick Astley

Posted on October 31, 2022 by ashyvicar

you look like
Rick Astley
she said
as she stood with her mates
vodka in hand
on the station platform
waiting for trains

newly coiffured
and cursing Thatcher’s Britain
I was somewhat
non-plussed
hoped it was
drink
that was talking

he promised
to bring me
into the twentieth century
armed as he was
with hair clippers
scissors
and a nice line in mousse

for a proud and out
introverted
indie kid
this was humiliation
travelling as I was
alone
to the fair

today
in the twilight
of late grey
middle age
I smile at this
snapshot
of youthful struggles

yet whilst I might
Roll with Rick now
I will never stop
dreaming
of Ruffians from
Rusholme
and socialist bliss

Introversion

Posted on September 10, 2022 by ashyvicar

to articulate a thought
takes time

a degree of inspiration
and a first in self-confidence is required

so much so
that by the time I summon the courage to speak
the world has already moved on

SONG 3

Posted on July 2, 2022 by ashyvicar

Softly I approach
though the writings on the wall
There’s no hope for the future
the past has taken it all
and drained me
drained my dry

I’m not the man I was
and I’m not the man I could be
I just take what comes
and don’t let them use me
It’s hard when you’re down
It’s hard when you’re down

I read all the signs
and all the signs read sorrow
The world barely moves
I can’t wait for tomorrow
It must be yesterday
today is to late

copyright ashyvicar 2022 (but originally written some years ago when I had singer songwriter pretensions!)

Johnson

Posted on April 19, 2022 by ashyvicar

there’s a criminal
living in downing street
a man who has broken the law
everything bluff and bluster
let the rain stop play
for these Eton rifles

there’s a criminal
living in downing street
a man who has broken the law
risible
in the face of tears
jumping on graves

there’s a criminal
living in downing street
a man who has broken the law
shameless
nefarious
pies full of lies

where’s the poetry?
but this is no summertime
for beautiful words
livin’ ain’t easy
and dancing to the rhythm
it gets harder sings Lana

so in muted tones
laced with ire
I make no apolgies
“Johnson! In the name of God go!”

copyright – ashyvicar April 2022

Carbon Neutral

Posted on November 1, 2021 by ashyvicar

a carbon neutral poem
is written on the wind
whispered in the air

the sound of it
Is occasionally heard
by those listening with intent
enveloped
in their surroundings

spoken by trees
sung by birds
of every colour and hue
an occasional word
is noted
repeated
before
being carried away
on rustling leaves

laments are made
to lost wisdom
to authors unknown
who eschewed celebrity

but its rhythm
its metre
is observed
by those blessed
to stand in places
where murmur
sigh
and echoes
combine
where
starlings swirl
in dusk light dance
where
nocturnal flights unseen
disturb the air
and where no pen
no religion
no philiosphy
can claim its truth

Eulogy

Posted on August 1, 2021 by ashyvicar

some who wear
cassock and collar
dislike that point in time
when
things get taken
off the leash
and the poetry of a life
is let loose

wonderful humour
naughty but nice
cheeky but never malicious
loved a game of bingo
liked to shop
she will be missed

is it a hatred of
sentimentality?

is it an assertion
in rhyming verse
that nan tends
rose gardens up above
or the irritation
that many a popular song
speaks to the human condition
better than countless hymns?

is it this
that evokes such
condescension?

yet in those
inadequate moments
when raw emotion
is worn on the sleeve
and language struggles to achieve
all that is wanted of it
lives often ignored
are given a moment
a twinkling under stars
and with it
recognition
that in bingo halls
and retail parks
any god
should be pleased to dwell

A Poetry Reading…..

Video

Bollihope – Spoken Word

Snowflakes

Posted on February 10, 2021 by ashyvicar

under the microscope
are you a miracle of beauty?

will distinctive patterns
make impressions on my soul?

captured by camera
would I be able to draw you?

or would that picture
just simply melt away?

is your design for life
one to be repeated?

does it change for better
any worlds lived in today?

just like snowflakes
all human life is transitory

one by one
lives simply fade away

uniqueness lost
never replicated

the moment gone
forever trying to grasp it

seeking divinity
in the fragility
of humanity

Sunderland Bridge

Posted on November 14, 2020 by ashyvicar

the detritus of human waste
litters the bins

– the river of life goes on –
remark the stones
but closer inspection
reveals birthday card cliché

all of life has crossed this bridge
long before this biro’s invention
merry
trudging
stagnant
accidentally drowned
complex in its resistance
to neat summary

a new structure now sits
down stream
all beam steeled
with modern slants
offering life at faster pace
no time to stop and contemplate

this changing template of autumn leaves
deviation towers
mapping power’s obdurate course
fast flowing
no giving way
and emphatically on track
for environmental catastrophe

ashyvicar

People, places, things……. in poetry

Author Archives: ashyvicar