they call me pale face

they call me paleface

(Jubilee 1976.)



hot: red

white and blue painted pavements

(looked like Belfast in the Troubles)

buses decorated for the queen

silver with purple stripes

tarmac melted

bucket for the

standpipe

if you had toddlers

put salt into their water

to keep em hydrated

all the shops running out of pop



family glowing

sharing

your mood changes when its warmth

honeysuckle, fresh bread

toast toast toast

don’t go out in the sun

that’s why they call me Paleface

the cream of society

love’s

skin

the smell of a newborn child

leave the window open

and breathe in 1976



slept in the garden

and talked to the neighbours

if you had a lolly

it’d melt down your arm

calamine lotion

a terrible drought everywhere you looked

I was the oldest kid

(listen: Sex Pistols)

had to queue for water

waking up everyday warm

going with the bucket to the standpipe

waiting



I’ve been through too much to feel

anything, any emotion

the things I been through

left me emotionless

like a war

like a bomb

maybe, maybe one day

I will feel the warmth

a change



the amorous

it does get warm, two people in the same bed

morning dew

morning to you

fresh ionisers

charge the air after a storm

the smell is full

the particles are good for you

warm

it seems to bring out

people you’ve not seen in a long time

and don’t forget

strawberries and cream.



Group poem. The Booth Centre (Activities and support for homeless people) May 2012