Poet's Corner

BUSKER

18-02-2008

Are buskers "people with a story to tell and a talent that goes unnoticed" - as opposed to untalented losers who don't know when to quit? The Stirrer's poet laureate Brendan Hawthorne thinks so with this selection from his latest volume.

A man

wearing a rucksack

high on his back

clicks segs

in the soles

of his brogues

to syncopate

his regional accent

adding metallic realism

to his tales of travel

connecting his audience

to fantasy and whims

he sparks towards

the place

where winds dance

contained

cornered

in breeze block

tenements

and diners

as Only The Lonely

Dooby doo ahhh

bends the Seebergs

through cleaver-blade

air-con scythes

slicing

the atmosphere

fanning

neon flames

chilling

coke floats

with below zero

reflections

in stainless steel

distortions

as chrome plated

trims flash

as bright as smiles

Outside

in an accordion

sheltered doorway

a man with a crazy

capped face

wonders

what to play next

as a coin

rattles in his cup

He looks up

tears welling

in his sad eyes

his throat closes

finds it hard to

say a ‘thank you’

so he plays

Only You

instead

"Busker is taken from Brendan Hawthorne's new book'Slide’ priced £7.99 + £1 P and P. Also available,‘The All Night Café and Other Dives’,priced £4 + £1 P and P. Both are available from B.Hawthorne, 20 Wharfedale Street, Wednesbury West Mids, WS10 9AG. All cheques payable to B.Hawthorne.

Where are the best buskers in the West Midlands?

And the worst?

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