Y is for Ye Parish of Camberwell
The A-Z of Camberwell Online Exhibition
Michael
Taken from the series called 'Strange Lullaby'.
Camberwell Green -
Springsong Blues
The rumble of pantechnicons,
pulling carcasses from slaughter-
house to supermarket
is the slow drag of the blues.
The lullaby of a blackbird
heard above the growl of traffic on the A202
is the poignancy of the blues.
The agitated whoops of teenage boys
pursuing an intruder down Peckham Road
is the syncopation of the blues.
The fruity bonnets of carribbean
matrons bobbing past my window
on springtime Sunday mornings
is the luscious vocal of the blues.
The mumbling monody of an alkie
camped out on Camberwell Green
on a gale-whipped night
is the meaning of the blues.
The howling of ambulances on the road
to Kings or Guys with covid cases
is the new incarnation of the blues
Welcome Mendlessohn*
to this, our Springsong Blues
janerussell
This poem is a reference to Mendlessohn's Spring Song written about Camberwell Green. It was written in the spring of 2019 except for the final stanza written during the Covid pandemic
