Lichfield Bower by Martin Tibbetts

Lichfield Bower The grey wind blows again as teaming people Clog car parks and bye-passes. Burdened by NIKE back-packs and overflowing picnic baskets Lichfield defies the grey wind. Any inch of tarmac and grass is fair game for a car. Meanwhile bored fairground waltzers Wait for prey Like spiders in a web. Politically correct officials lead the parade of Lichfield’s best trivia (It is election year) Mingling for a second with the fumes of polished traction engines And burger stalls. Duty done, they leave the field open to the motor bike stunts and Shows to upset the flask of lemonade. Meanwhile the rock band without a label try to impress a diverted crowd. The sun disperses the grey for an hour Missed by tattooed beer drinkers in tents Who emerge to stagger onto Georgian Streets Adding to MIDDLE England their Hooch emblems Relieved constables get back into their white vans Windscreen glass protected by a castle portcullis The NIKE bags and purses return home emptied. Balloons wind- blown from push chairs. Meanwhile, the black bouncers equip themselves With new cigarettes and mean look To take second watch as grey turns to night. Martin Tibbetts 28 May 2001