Is the local still the local?

Cherry

By mcmanaman

Thu, 23 Apr 2020
  • 736 reads
4 comments
 

When I was at sixth form

We went to the same pub every Friday night

The bar staff knew our names.

Phil the Landlord used to make us sandwiches.

 

He didn’t do it for anyone else

and he never ever mentioned it,

just walked over to the corner.

 

We always stood in with maybe three plates of sandwiches

And sausage rolls and triangle sandwiches

And we still go back there every Christmas Eve

 

And no matter how bust it is there would always be

plates of sandwiches brought out to us.

Phil lived near me. I’d see him in his garden,

It must be a hard life, being in pubs

 

But that’s what him and Dawn knew.

We went to their retirement do. The whole town did

And their son took over, a mural for his parents

In the corner, not far from where we always sat

 

We still see them there. It’s hard to keep away

and they can’t resist serving a few drinks

when it gets busy. Dawn’s the worst.

You can’t keep her out of there and sometimes

 

on Friday nights I think about The Britannia

my fingers curl around for that pint glass

and I check that I’ve got some 50ps

for the jukebox.

Certificate PG
Poem
Skype poems

Comments

Submitted by peterelbee on

I liked your skype poem Mcmanamn. Most of the references suggest this was some time back, as you mentions the sixth form instead of year 11/12. Also the dukebox fees have probably gone up since. I might be wrong on both counts. 

It's nice to have a local where they look after you. Its not gimmicks of even sometimes price that retains customers, its the little things like making sanwiches and going the extra mile to give people a reason to come back. We had a local where everyone seemed to know everyone else and you could always be sure of bumping into at least someone you knew. It was owned by a trust but eventually it was closed down and made into a more upmarket establishment. Not reallty the same atmosphere. 

Notices a couple of typos you may wish to address - "no matter how bust they were",  I think you might have meant "no matter how busy they were." 

"But that's what him and Dawn knew" - should be "But that's what Dawn and him knew"

 

 

 

Submitted by mcmanaman on

Ah brilliant, thanks for reading and thanks for the corrections very useful! And yes, goes back quite a while now, it was 1998-2000 that I was at sixth form!

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

I can relate to this poem, but not so much for the landlord, more for the people in our local at the time.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by mcmanaman on

Thanks for reading Jenny!