The bard celebrates two other fine practitioners of the art, and laments a lost brewer
Employment
Catherine Ormell
When I am scuffing my good shoes
on the edge of the kerb,
in the discouraging rain and dark,
I can see deep into the post-industrial office building,
and watch workers gliding
between photocopiers.
And though I can’t quite make-out…
they seem to be luxuriant in paper
and carrying earthenware mugs
to tortoiseshell desks.
Particularly, on floor three,
these people look friendly,
they rise above this prosy street.
Four o'clock is plainly a lull.
It can't be so onerous can it?
Or, not as wearying as,
carrying the afternoon about,
your body cupped round it,
protecting its flicker,
protesting its expiry.
TONY BURKE talks to Garth Cartwright author of Princes Amongst Men — Journeys With Romani Gypsy Musicians
ALAN MORRISON recommends a consummate, heart-warming collection about a working-class upbringing in the industrial north-east
ANDY CROFT welcomes the publication of an anthology of recent poems published by the Morning Star, and hopes it becomes an annual event
TOM STONE sings the praises of one of the oldest open-air festivals in Britain


