The Beat Goes On

Gold cherry

By Silver Spun Sand

Sun, 01 Mar 2015
  • 10092 reads
32 comments
 
Durham Buildings reeks
of spliff, of fish and chips
and oysters, spaghetti
and semen, reefers and roses –
Yamahas – run on ether. 
 
Two doors down,
the Pattersons
are at it again
hammer and tongs.
 
Their brat, likewise,
banging away - he
on his new drum-kit, 
nearly busts a gut
to drown them out.  
 
Not forgetting, how could I,
the new kids on the block?
Romeo with his Juliet...
twenty-first century style...
 
a washing line...
his socks and her smalls
adorn their balcony
but it doesn't dampen
their ardour...
 
a sort of tempo rubato,
a variation on a theme,
as cornices quake
and breeze blocks jive.
 
Piss-ridden stairwells resound
to a sweet discordant euphony
of climactic ecstasies. 
 
The squeak and the scrape 
of bedsteads, decimates 
distempered walls, 
annihilates Artexed ceilings; 
cracks concrete floors.
 
Shagged out – so we lie back
on satin sheets; watch
as neon signs melt
into the moonlight...  
 
whilst raindrops on the skylight
freak out in six-eight time 
to the unstoppable,
incomparable. 
rhapsody of life.
 
Certificate 15
Poem
Silver Spun Sand Poems
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by thornwood on

brilliant. The streets as they are. More of this please.

Stephen d

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Thanks, steve...appreciated, and I'll trysmiley

Tina

 

Submitted by VeraClark on

Tina, I loved this. It feels like home.Low key language and clever use of tempo makes for a refreshingly contemporary read.

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Vera, hismiley  Hope this sunny March morning finds you well.

So pleased you enjoyed, and I hope spring has sprung for all of us.

Tina

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Wonderful!  Love the shifts in tempo, a whole world in a tower block, all the senses are here.

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Pleased you noticed the tempo, Philip.  Got fair carried away in the writing of it, so I'm heartened you enjoyed the journey too.  In 1958, and just starting secondary school,  I was 'privileged' to be one of the first tenants in a 'state of the art' tower block in South London, and you are so right when you mention 'all the senses'.  'All human life' is surely there.

Tina

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

Hi Tina,

Back in '64 my girlfriend and I visited one of her mates who lived in a nearly new South London (Bermondsey) tower block. At the time we bright-eyed teenagers thought it was great --- wonderful views and all that. It seemed so futuristic. However, even then I remember noticing the shine was wearing off. Purely by chance, I have never been inside one of those blocks since.

I think you have captured the atmosphere and disappointment of these poorly maintained, run-down failed experiments brilliantly with this excellent piece.

Cheers

Ed

 

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Thanks so much for sharing, Ed.  Pleased you found this piece evocative, and I think your words are spot on.

Tina

 

Submitted by blighters rock on

Is that of Roehampton, Tina? It reminded me of there alot and the ending says alot too. There's only one way to block it all out.

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

God yes, Richard.  The Alton Estate, Denmead House (my block).  Fantastically spotted.  The only good thing about it was its proximity to Richmond Park, literally a stone's throw.  Just down the end of Clarence Lane.  I used to cycle there, nearly every day, and go on through to Richmond and Star and Garter Hill.  The view from the top stunning, and there I really did block it all out.  Mind you, the flat we had, all four of us, with two bedrooms so that my sister and I could share, was a palace compared to where we lived in Tottenham...my nan's rented house.  I had to share a room with my mum and dad till I was eleven (when we moved) and my sister (nearly four years older than me)  shared one with her aunt (mum's sister).  We also had hot running water so I could have a bath every night and not just on Fridays.  The novelty soon wore off though, and I missed, painfully,  the extended family I had grown so used to.  Couldn't wait to escape.  Hence, my sister got married at eighteen, and I was just nineteen, when I followed suit, marrying her husband's younger brothersmiley

Thanks, so very much, for reading and for being so astute, Richardsmiley

Incidentally,'Durham Buildings', the name I use in the poem, was the place in Deptford my parents were offered, prior to the one at Roehampton.  Having turned it down (my dad said it wasn't even good enough for a dog to live in) it was their last chance, or else we'd have gone right back down to the bottom of the housing list again. 

Have a peaceful Sunday.

Tina

 

Submitted by tibi popovici on

The rhapsody of reality per life, about life..., nothing else to add.

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Your sentiment, a gem in itself, Tibi. Thank yousmiley

Tina

 

Submitted by blighters rock on

A proper London childhood, Tina. 

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Sure wassmiley  Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share it.

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Your description of what you saw and felt, comes across brilliantly in this poem Tina.  It showed a real world of hardship, but also close family that stuck together.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

We certainly did.  

My last memories of Denmead House, for me, are poignant ones.  With me and my sister having  flown the nest, my mum developed early onset Alzheimer's, and in those days, in the seventies, little was known of it.  My dad cared for her as best he could for ten years until she was sixty four, when she was admitted to Tooting Bec Asylum, where, she died, thankfully, two weeks later. A terrible place.  I then got my dad sheltered housing accommodation, courtesy of the British Legion, on a nice little estate not far from me.  He only lived there a few short months, having suffered a stroke, then admitted to a nursing home, where he died some two years later.

Thanks for reading, Jenny, and I'm glad you got something of the atmosphere from it.

Tina

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

You have a story to tell here Tina. It was sad about your mum, can't imagine how it left you all feeling...can only imagine the great saddness.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Yes, Jenny, I have, but I wish I hadn't; an era in my life I wouldn't want to repeat, but I guess nothing happens in vain, and I like to think what happened to me, if I share it, it might help others feel not so alone in similar circumstances.  Although times have changed there still remain certain denominators common to us all, no matter what.  

Thanks, again.

Tina

 

Submitted by torscot on

Hello sand lady.

I enjoyed  reading this slice of society that live in the air.

Love or loath the tower blocks they did provide a home for someone.

Take care

torscot

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

And simultaneously, I guess, I was reading your contribution to the I.P. this week.  Only just noticed it.smiley and it's a little gem.  Very original.

You are so right in what you say about those tower blocks...compared to where we were living they were fantastic, and I guess we shouldn't grumble at all, bearing in mind the way two thirds of the world is forced to live.

Just off to count those blessings of mine, and chatting with you has been one of them.

Cheers, torscotsmiley

Sand Lady

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

This is our Facebook and Twitter Pick of the Day!

Get a great reading recommendation everyday!

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Over the moonsmiley.  Thank you, so much.

Tina

 

Submitted by jolono on

This is a joy to read Tina. Evoked lots of memories of similar surroundings from years ago. Great tempo to it as well. Can imagine this being read aloud in a packed pub. Great stuff.

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Hi there, jolono.  Dead chuffed you liked it so much, and took the the trouble to tell me sosmiley  Glad I'm not the only one goes back that farsmiley

Tina

 

Submitted by Bee on

The rhythm of life in all it's noisy glory. Brilliant, Tina.

Bee

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Many thanks, Bee.

Tina

 

Submitted by tibi popovici on

Tina, where is that puppet story? I really like it, while I was writing the comment the story disappeared. laugh

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Hi, Tibi.  Thank you so much for noticing that one.  Wasn't happy with it, so took it down, intending to work on it, some of these days.  You made me get right down to it, then and there, and I'm so glad you liked itsmiley

 

Submitted by torscot on

Hello again Sand Lady.

Well done.  I can just see from my window  your cherry tiara glittering two floors up from the Pattersons.

Kind regards

torscot

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Well hello, there torscot.  Thank you for your kind felicitations, and that tiaria sure does sparkle in the sun;cherries beat rubies, any day of the week, and the least said about those Pattersons, the bettersmiley

Have a peaceful evening.  I can almost hear those waves breaking on the shore and how I miss them.

Sand Lady

 

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