Frank Colley (British Working Class Poets)

Frank Colley

Frank Colley lives in South Yorkshire and has been writing poetry all his life. He is an active member of the Read to Write Group and has performed his poems at a wide variety of venues including CAST in Doncaster. His poems have appeared in several anthologies and two pamphlets, “The Nantcol Sonnets” and “The Story of Soldier A” published by Glass Head Press in 2022. An admirer of Edward Thomas, his poems reflect his love of nature, and the negative impact everyday life has on it.

 

Aaberfan.

 

It was there in black and white

all the rain of the previous night.

Brought the slag heap crushing down

smothering the children in the nearby town.

A school day just like mine though I return to my home.

To flickering pictures in monochrome

 

They dug with their fingers through tears of distress

under arc lights and spotlights supplied by the press.

White lines streaked down their coal-black faces.

Finding schoolbooks, pencils and shoes without laces.

The queen paid a visit and read her speech

an elegy for children that no one would teach.

 

      To mothers and fathers with no tears left

      just a hole, in a valley, a valley bereft.

 

 

Shall we dance?

Shall we dance
on the beach
in bare feet
for a laugh
and fall in love?

As the waves
wash us clean
of our sins
yet committed
but in our thoughts.

Shall we dance
cheek to cheek
in the ballroom
of our minds

 

forevermore?
As the music

fills our hearts

and our clothes

fill the floor

I love you even more.

 

Midnight Rain.

 

Sitting at my window watching the rain

and how the moon shines bright at midnight

after a full day of rain.

The air is still, full of nothing

she said she would visit, there is always a but!

an excuse for not making the

Journey. This time it will be the wild

weather and the torrential rain.

 

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Setu, October 2022 :: British Working Class Poets