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...

Robert Runcie

Posted on April 16, 2020 by ashyvicar

I played guitar
in a band that bore his name
but did not recognise him
when he spoke to me
through a car window

like a blues brothers’ rawhide
we replayed our repertoire
joined each time by Giles
for his song of entertainment
that a man named Paul inspired

I felt embarrassed
a make-shift car park attendant
the special college day
who blank-faced the arriving
VIP

that was my experience
of Robert Runcie
tank commander and archbishop
so much taller
in real life

did I channel that into the band?
did my rhythm guitar
signal loss of face?
awkwardness came
naturally.

I allude to it sporadically
the band that is
for effect
“The Rob Runcie Experience?!!?” Really!??!
my momentary encounter I try to forget

The Screaming Melons

Posted on April 10, 2020 by ashyvicar

you could say
I was a die-hard fan

at both of their gigs
they banged out the blues
in a feelgood style

I loved them for their name
dreamed of being a part
jealous of their fashion
I bought a blues harp

I could not make it wail
I could not make it moan
like Pete
like Sonny Boy

in my mouth
all tuneless and useless
all teeth and gums

so I salute
those Screaming Melons
the joy their blues bought
in all too few moments

and yes
in flights of fancy
still dream
of making harmonicas
talk

my gig going years

Posted on April 8, 2020 by ashyvicar

I will list them
the bands that I’ve seen
as I nursed a pint
for as long as I could
in venues
where in spite of the crowds
I was always on my own

I did my best to blend in
sought to give
an impression
that
I was waiting for others
who
stuck in queues at the bar
couldn’t get back
or had lost me in the dark

were you fooled?
were you there?
in Gloucester,
Cheltenham
Sheffield
Leicester
I will be specific

or did the drink
the chewing of the fat
let me go undetected
like the thief Garrett?
as I yearned to hear Harvey
sing about her dress
lingering behind you
a respectful distance.

The Holy Grail

Posted on December 22, 2019 by ashyvicar

the holy grail
that cup of old
is this it before us now?
Who dares to touch?
Who dares to hold?
Who dares the story to retell?
of how red wine
fresh full-bodied wine
was passed
hand to mouth
mouth to hand
as a sign of a hope
that had only ever been dreamed of

a hope battered by the storms of time
a hope shattered by ages long gone
and yet still hanging there
waiting to be grasped
waiting to be held
close to the heart

Valentines

Posted on November 4, 2019 by ashyvicar

i once sent you a valentine
the kind only shy boys send
where even anonymous
reveals too much
and
– I love you –
is never penned

i could have slipped it
under your door
furtively placed it
in a bag
dropped it
by a pigeon-hole
but I took the bus to Gloucester

the trip
I don’t remember now
or how I found the courage
to let the card
slip
from my hand
into the darkness
of unknown consequences

valentines night
together –

with a band of SCA volunteers
walking wintry February lanes
torchlight
streetlight
starlight
breath hanging in chilly air
visiting those marginalised
just for their learning disabilities –

I felt you knew
sensed it in the atmosphere
conceivably my face
just cried out
Gloucester!

you said
– did you send any cards? –
i said
looking at traces
i couldn’t read
– no –

You smiled
lightly brushed my back
with mitten hands
carrying on with lives
never to be knit

Bill

Posted on May 20, 2019 by ashyvicar

you played guitar

a child’s toy
plucked
strummed
singing silently away
music inside your head

in turn I
played halting chords
Morrisey and Marr’s
catalogue
stretching and waiting
but sat on the floor

you couldn’t hear

dissonance
a weight of shyness
mis-placed sevenths
strung to a tune

I couldn’t hear

your melodies
spirit of inspiration
take on the world
lost to silence

hearing and all speech
impaired

I want to be……

Posted on February 20, 2019 by ashyvicar

the poet of mediocrity
for the mediocre age
using mediocre language
to vent my mediocre rage

I’ll plagiarise and sanitise
anything good that comes to hand
I’ll be
a bootleg Byron
a paper thin Plath
a Heaney hologram

I’ll take endless selfies
highlighting my golden pen
I’ll sit crane-like
but just right
to hide my paunch
and then….

I’ll declare war

in mediocrity
an expert I will be
sit on sofas
strictly dance in loafers
ice-skate with gophers
a rhyming book
open on my knee

from the east to the west
I’ll be on all the shows
divide opinion
boost the ratings
punching Piers on the nose

whilst in a hand cart
the world goes to hell
fanned by
climate change
brexit bitterness
all my complicity
as well

copyright ashyvicar 2019

The Blues

Posted on January 22, 2019 by ashyvicar

can you capture
the spirit of the blues
in a word?

is it possible
to distil
like whisky
aged in oak barrels
a single word
a gilt-edged malt
that captures
that spirit?

does “blue”
educe what I feel
or merely muddy
the waters?

a word of grouse
not of talisker

can you capture
the spirit of the blues
in a word?

Leaf – a movement in ten words

Posted on January 22, 2019 by ashyvicar

ripped

asunder

hurled

aloft

twisted

winded

obtruded

wounded

autumnally

bled

the Bat and Ball

Posted on March 2, 2018 by ashyvicar

this was heaven
the Bat and Ball
long after last orders

lights dimmed
curtains closed
drinks lining the table

tiger bitter
double glenfiddich
henri winterman cigars

talking
the death of god
whisky flowed

no thought police
no biblical literalists
just sally maclennane

so we muse
linda’s limitless intellect
the merits of moondancing

theological themes
replenishing our glasses
the beauty of fermented grain

this was heaven
the bat and ball
no fall from grace with god

ashyvicar

People, places, things……. in poetry

Author Archives: ashyvicar