The city’s tunnels
Between Balloon Street
and Miller Street, a network
of tight-lipped subways and bricked-up
air raids occupy the ground below;
shelters which once served Victorian
Mancunians with tunnels linking hidden
dwellings, shops and bunkers. These cellar
dwellars also used busy waterways
as launch points for steam and ferry travel.
In steamier times, around the mid-1930s, these cruising
travelers would have passed arches (built into the Irwell
embankment) heaving with wine merchants, silk-dyers,
printers and cabinet makers - all clacking their cajoles.
Today, the chatter of these sellers is muted -
buried in the city’s tunnels and cellars.
Catherine Mark
1 comment:
I enjoyed this one immensely. I love the use of historical facts, and the way you buttress them with descriptions like "tight-lipped subways."
Also, have you ever considered prose poetry? When it's written in the shape of prose or a short story rather than a traditional poem? I think if you lengthened this, put in a bit more history and much more wonderful descriptions and details, you could have a really delightful prose poem as well.
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