FREE TRADE HALL
Still searching for the girl
with the kaleidoscope eyes.
Haven’t
scored for decades so I am
sure you are going
to assure me
there isn’t
much hope
and yet
I have faithfully followed
this river
running past my house
some serious miles
South West through
the cheese county
of Cheshire into
the heart of Manchester
before it
flows past all the fab tour’s
houses to
empty itself in
the Irish Sea
and me
my brain shaped
by their songs, as was
everybody’s
their ruffian rivals from
down South
exercising their
undue
influence on
everything below
but here
I am now
abject, forlorn
yet
determinedly waiting
counting my blessings
soon to
be feasting my soul
on theatre in
the round
or whatever
be the delights in
the Free Trade Hall.
