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A View from the Retail Park

Alex Saynor

Friday, December 19th, 2014

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 They hardly paved paradise
on the edge of Wigan.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 There was no edenic innocence
to corrupt in Stoke
or wild, untouched Bolton groves.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 There were no secret forests
or magic woods of South Reading;
that was a landfill site.
Methane vents still testify.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 But the River Tawe from Moel Feity
through Old Red Sandstone
flows towards the Liberty-
now we’re building on something.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Cross the river and you’re in Seattle.
It’s just up the escalator,
packed with fans but no-one’s talking.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Careful- you’ll end up in the cinema
or struggling to navigate Pets at Large
at ten to three. Just use the fire exit.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 This sports shop is closing for eternity.
There are no floodlights in the drizzle anymore
to guide us to the terraces.

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 We know this stadium and where it stands
looming where it landed.

© Alex Saynor 2014

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/a-view-from-the-retail-park/