Corporation Street Birmingham March 1914
waits as a fresco on top of the stairs
after the marble and mosaic vestibule
the brass knuckled, oak hand-railed stairway
to greet visitors
at the entrance to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
It holds a secret.
Citizens depicted proud of this corporate life
are Joseph Southall’s friends and family
models to prosperity
furred, feathered and alive.
A Quaker’s quiet brush strokes
Painted two years later beyond the title
looking back at peaceful streets
before Brum tools itself up for war.
Appt with Dr Williams
I stare at his note pad
so much depends on my words
how I describe the symptoms
the rash the dryness.
He writes
'red weals on white skin'
advises water
prescribes an uncture for Chicken Pox
Thank you for these poems Steve! Two very different pieces, but each brilliant in their own right. I love the line 'before Brum tools itself up for the war'.
If anyone else would like to share their work, do email them to me at nellie.cole@sky.com.
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