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

Copyright ashyvicar April 2023