poetry

LAST QUARTERAs formed in most minds.246. Persistent, true to form ...Cast, mould, impression, pattern:Leicester, Coventry or Swansea -Are they differently fashioned?247. Some may - say they are formless,Featureless and A-morphic -Pity we the citizens of these citiesLiving in their rough-hewn diamonds?248. Some cities are well proportioned -Lancaster, York and St.Andrews.Symmetrically balanced, well-favoured,Trim, neat, clean and comely.249. Some cities are thrawn, distorted -Stoke, Bradford, Leeds, and Dundee.Defaced ... disfigured by industry,Misbegotten by business folly.250. Some cities are straight-lined, evenWith streets unswerving for a mile -Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow,The Scottish straight-cut style.251. Some cities angle off akimbo ...Sharp cornered veer at every turn -Newcastle, Liverpool and BristolThrough nook and fork and quoin.252. Some cities curve and circle ...Durham, Bath, Exeter and Lincoln.Cestus sashed, they loop and hoopAbout their own circumference.253. Convoluted, winding, twisting ...Birmingham meanders crinkled.In tortured whorl, it rolls and curls,Corkscrews on the Midland soil.254. Rotund and globular London splatsItself about its hinterland -The ice-cream cone of British townsDrips upon the countryside.255. These bulging, swelling citiescreepTowards mull and ness and spit.It makes me dream of coral reefsAnd lands far from this.256. Give me a cave, a subterraneanlair,A burrow underground -A subway tunnel to a holeThat opens on the wild ...257. A wild of thorn, bramble, briar,Fern, nettle, thistle barbed:I'd run the gaff of dale and combeTo escape the city drab ......258. The dull, blunt edged city life."Turn! Turn!" the grey walls cry!"Run! Run!" they toothless mumbleAt those who march on past.259. Unbroken slip the buildings,Walls smooth and made of glass.Slick and sleek and most discreetShine the glossy polished banks.260. Rough and shaggy, course, unkempt,Against the grain - are you like this?You might take the washboard roadThat some already tramp.261. That's the score, the notch and nick-One cockscomb less won't be missed.The city's got folks enoughTo keep it on the turn.262. In the rut, the well-worn grove;Trench, trough, ditch and gutter.Why carve, chisel, gash, gougeOurselves in much further?282