Ask

Bald headed blokes with earrings and over-weight blondes

Surround me as I try to eat alone,

Cut off from life save for my mobile phone

And random thoughts of cliffs and hammer ponds

Somewhere upon the Downs, where the bleats

Of dull but friendly sheep will keep me free

From all Southampton's stark modernity.

The West Quay's numbing mall, the High Streets

Bland pedestrianisation and the miles

Of pavement that go nowhere but avoid

Any hint of human warmth or joy

Insisting this is life and we must smile.

          Betjeman's prayer could not snuff out Slough

          But, surely to God, Southampton must go now!

Brian Hick March 09

©copyright Sally Hick March 2022