For Those That Cry

FOR THOSE THAT CRY

On the record
I had placed on the player
Floyd Cramer
played
"For Those That Cry"

Meanwhile I sat in the chair
feet on the stool
in front of the warm fire
sitting in comfort
with Floyd's piano
in my head
that was thinking of you
far away

After the record stopped
I remained a while
seated
listening to the hum from the silent record-player
the sound of the gas fire
the traffic outside
and the tick
of the clock

The clock struck the hour
With the chime removed
it no longer strikes a clear note
but a dull resounding thud

Eventually
I got up
changed the record
turned down the heat
made supper

Finally
Whether for you or for Floyd
I cried.

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 10th August 1972

Publications

1972 FOR HER VOLUME ONE (Pontefract, Poet's Press of Osgoldcross)
1973 ENVIRONMENT (Thames Ditton, Ember Press)
2000 Snakeskin (Internet)

And Every Star Shall Shine

AND EVERY STAR SHALL SHINE

Why are your poems so full of country images?
It was the confessed citylovingliving girl who asked
I hadn't noticed
It was he who knew the countryside who answered
he whose thoughts roamed about the wild moors
lapped about the shores of a lake
became thick as forests
rose high as the birds
Yet he lives in a city
Sheffield's not a city she said
Not like London New York San Francisco
What's a city?
He thought of the wilder parts of Hampstead Heath
The Serpentine that serves well as any lake
the forest around Walthamstow and Epping
The birds sing over London too
He thought of the journey along Attercliffe Road
or up Brightside to the motorway
of traffic lights huge shops and factories
She thought of The Tate The British Museum
of supermarkets open until midnight
Then they looked up at the sky
in London there was a red dust glow
New York was worse
the stars were seen in a haze over Sheffield
but on Brackenhill Common
every star shone clear and bright.

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 8th August 1972

Publications

1972 FOR HER VOLUME ONE (Pontefract, Poet's Press of Osgoldcross)
1986 Aireings (UK)
1991 Owen Wister Review (USA)
1999 Unlikely Stories (Internet)

The Food

THE FOOD

there was a ten percent loss of sound
under bridges
the noise too of other traffic
at times disrupted
bach's b minor mass
direct from st. pauls
over the car radio
carried us from settle to wakefield
we weren't after perfection
were totally satisfied
with ninety percent

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 3rd August 1972

Publication

1972 FOR HER VOLUME ONE (Pontefract, Poet's Press of Osgoldcross)

Love Her Love Her Coffee

LOVE HER LOVE HER COFFEE

You left me several packets
of your special hotel coffee
Its pure ground freshness has
spoilt my tastebuds for
the supermarket's instant brand
that leaves the palate flat
Now every cup of coffee that I drink
reminds me of you
the strong aroma in a tiny cup
the elusiveness of the really perfect brew
I drink — drank deeply
There's one packet yet left
I cannot buy it over here
so I drink now a weaker brew
and I've started looking for some better coffee
to buy
but I'll not find anything
to more than
substitute.

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st August 1972

Publications

1972 FOR HER VOLUME ONE (Pontefract, Poet's Press of Osgoldcross)
1991 Saudade (UK)

One View Or Another

ONE VIEW OR ANOTHER

We left the valley in sunshine
climbed steeply to the high hills
where sheep outnumbered far
the passing cars
There the rain met our ascent
with mist obscuring the views
Surrounded by mist and by moor
we were totally enclosed
in our own world
The beat of the rain
and the bleating of sheep
were alien sounds
I wanted to explain unable to show
the beauty of grass and heatherclad moorland the
  tarn shimmering in sunlight to our right
  and Penyghent rearing up in front of us
There was none of this to be seen
Enshrouded in our own world
it mattered only that we were there

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 14th July 1972

Publications

1972 FOR HER VOLUME ONE (Pontefract, Poet's Press of Osgoldcross)
1987 Weyfarers (UK)

Lame Dog Love Poem

LAME DOG LOVE POEM

Sat in the car on Royd Moor Lane,
by a rubbish tip and a tar machine,
a dog named Robert came walking by,
hopping on three feet
Its front, right paw lay limp
and we watched that dog
named Robert go by
before resuming our kissing

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 7th July 1972

1972 FOR HER VOLUME ONE (Pontefract, Poet's Press of Osgoldcross)
1988 Z Magazine (Isle of Man)
1991 Camellia (USA)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
1999 Unlikely Stories (Internet)

Her Eyes

HER EYES

her eyes are the most beautiful eyes in the world
her eyes have seen the glamour of life
her eyes have seen the sordid seemy side
her eyes live in fear of life
her eyes live in hope for life
her eyes see without looking
her eyes talk too much
her eyes are two in number that is functional
her eyes cry saltwet tears
her eyes are happy laughing eyes
her eyes are the most beautiful eyes in the world

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Birmingham, 1st July 1972

Publications

1972 FOR HER VOLUME ONE (Pontefract, Poet's Press of Osgoldcross)
1972 Sonnet (UK)
1992 New Wave (USA)

Bones Of The Dead City

BONES OF THE DEAD CITY

The bones of the dead city lie rotting in mud
The bones in the quagmire are rotten with bugs
Bugs are feeding on the bones of the dead city
Bacterial decay is ripe in the bones in the quagmire
Enzymatic action is rotting the quagmired bones
Decomposed bone turns slowly to dust
The Laws of Thermodynamics and the Laws of God
demand it
What lived
now dies
The total universal energy is not changed
The bones of the dead city lie in the quagmire
Bugridden mud is the scene of decay
Bacteria, once dormant
now thrive and multiply
The city
is dead,
even its bones which lie in the mud
where another colony
now lives

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 20th June 1972

Publications

1974 Poets & Poetry (UK)
1988 Global Tapestry Journal (UK)

The Artificial Insemination Blues

Composed: Lofthouse in Nidderdale, 12th June 1972

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1989 Agog (UK)
1992 Daily Cow (USA)

After A Night Spent In The Back Of The Car

AFTER A NIGHT SPENT IN THE BACK OF THE CAR

"wise men say only fools rush in
but I can't help falling in love with you"
- Popsong lyric by Johnny Mercer and Rube Bloom

i was never so wise
as to avoid the rush of the crosswinds
on the motorway
the quiet of the service station
is disturbed by the early morning birds
singing in the dawn over the tarmac
so i breakfast shave wash cleanteeth
and wait
listening to pop music on the car radio
waiting
o I always was the precipitous fool
i know
last night i said i love you
when you answered how can you
that did it I knew then
that i could not help myself

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st June 1972

Publications

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
1972 FOR HER VOLUME ONE (Pontefract, Poet's Press of Osgoldcross)

Hindemith: Concerto for Organ 1962

Image from York Symphony Orchestra archives.
HINDEMITH: CONCERTO FOR ORGAN, 1962
(1st public performance, Lincoln Centre, New York 1962, Conductor: Hindemith. 1st public performance in U.K., York Minster, 13th May 1972, Conductor: Frances Jackson)


I

Crescendo

It is quiet today in New York
Flowers bloom in New York today
The air is still
waiting
The sounds of war
are distant
We who hear you now
know
here in York in '72
for the first living time in public
the crescendo builds
Did they
in New York in '62
know too ?
And yourself
as Jackson now
the Minster reverberating
with the sounds
of your becoming epitaph
The seal is set
it cannot now be broken
The movement will come
to an end
It lies still

II

(Allegro)

It goes on
Your breakfast is served
Life retains its hum-drum reality
But there's a stirring in the air
Ah Hindemith they knew you well
those who perceive
the chords in the air
not yet cut
not yet surmised
No awareness of scissors
the sharpness is an octave higher
There's life in the magic still
Who knows where it leads ?
Beneath the city
the subway carries its herd
of commuters
The traffic
sits waiting
for the red to change to green
as amber flashes
There can be nothing pedestrian
here
The movement is leading home

III

Canzonetta in triads and two ritornelli

The music is written
There are no words to be said
And yet
can even the tongue
cease its quest ?
The quiet rumblings
are soon enough heard
The words cannot be stopped
The music is not all that is written

IV

Phantasy on "Veni Creator Spiritus"

The time has come
Hindemith
You knew
you old devil you
You knew
the spirit was not created
only for you
But you took it
Yet it took you too
and you left
leaving us this
this your fantasy
You are gone from New York
You are gone too from York
Play it out
orchestra and organ
your musical orgasm
It is coming for you
It is coming for us
None of us can escape
You have left us this
It was all you had
And we needed it
This you couldn't take
We thank you
for leaving us
our own fantasy
All creation
ends in creation
Only the dust is lost
O Master Musician
go now
depart in peace
We send you flowers
but no tears
We will bury you as befits
The flowers will bloom
tomorrow on your grave
You are done with us
But we are not done with you

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: York, 13th May 1972

Publications

1975 North York Poetry (UK)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
2007 MIND AND BODY (York, Fighting Cock Press)

*****
Visit the website of the York Symphony Orchestra

To M.M.

TO M.M.

The first time
we met as strangers
We parted as friends

The second time
we met as friends
We parted as lovers

The last time
we met as lovers
We parted as friends

We did not meet
again
We are now
not even friends

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 14th April 1972

Publications

1972 Spring Tide (UK)
1986 Envoi (UK)
1990 Verve (USA)
1990 THE INWARD EAR (Cambridge University Press)
1992 THE BEGINNER'S CHOICE (Harlow, Longman)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1996 Poephysics (Internet)
2007 LITERATURE 2nd edn (Oxford University Press)
2007 Ackworth born, gone West (Internet)


*****
PARA M.M.

A primeira vez
que nos encontramos
como desconhecidos
nos despedimos como amigos.

A segunda vez
que nos encontramos
como amigos
nos despedimos como amantes.

A ultima vez
que nos encontramos
como amantes
nos despedimos como amigos.

Nao nos encontramos mais
e agora nao somos
nem mesmo amigos.

GERALD ENGLAND

Traducao por Teresinka Pereira.

Publication

1990 POESIA INGLESA (Bluffton, International Writers and Artists Association)

I Was A Teenage Werewolf

I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF

I was a teenage werewolf
and she was but the witch's cat
During the day she was a lithesome thing,
more than a slip of a girl
with jet black hair
and maidenly curves
At night she went home to the witch
became her cat
with fur so black
and claws so sharp
and I howled all night
for the loss of my love
for I was a teenage werewolf
and she was but the witch's cat
All night she meowed meowed meowed
as the witch rode high on her broom
seeking to revenge my daily theft
All night I howled howled howled
for want of the witch's cat
All day we made love made love made love
but she always returned as a cat
and I howled at the moon
seeking revenge for its nightly theft
for I was a teenage werewolf
and she was but the witch's cat

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 4th April 1972

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
1993 The People's Poetry (UK)
1994 Plastic Tower (USA)

(42)

not so much nothing
to say but lack of need to
say it - silent love

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 20th March 1972

Publications

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
1973 Mac (UK)

You, Being Absent, The Cat

YOU, BEING ABSENT, THE CAT

Come to our rave-up in York, they said
You being absent, I said OK Why not?
I drank several drinks
enough, no more, not to fall foul of the law
I danced a few jives and a couple of waltzes
I read some poems while the jazz band played,
and said a kind word to the fat girl with glasses
I could have made the available lay
instead of driving off,
mumbling about thirty miles
and a poem to be written

I ran over a cat at Sherburn-in-Elmet
It came out of the dark and under a wheel
The blood was sticky all over the tyre
An old cat, they said, and always careless
It wasn't my fault, they assured me
It was expected to happen sooner or later
Just my hard luck to get involved, they said,
giving me sugary tea to calm my nerves
I drank it quickly, thanked them, said good-bye

If asked tomorrow, I shall say
that it wasn't a bad party,
reaching, you being absent, for another black coffee

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 10th March 1972

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1992 Green's Magazine (Canada)
1993 The Affiliate (Canada)
1999 Unlikely Stories (Internet)
2002 Blue Beat Jacket (Japan)

Sound Poem for Margaret

SOUND POEM FOR MARGARET

Une ivver knaws et ivver sal
say owsit pen, mais nut a mind,
seems so fair et nut a care
pour tahme shoo studusup,
pourtaen a kiss as sin
med matter loss ignificence
Thetinundred does pour minilass
et setdi upalossgill'll
shaw owmich shoo mens,
esudwefin at luv's a fennything
thersnut a owt'll ferme

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st March 1972

Publications

1981 The Old Police Station (UK)
2004 Chanticleer Magazine (UK)

Love Power Crisis Poem

LOVE POWER CRISIS POEM

I read your letter
by the light of a candle
Now I have no more to do
than snuff out the candle too
plunging myself
once more
into darkness

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 3rd February 1972

Publications

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
1994 PLEIADE (Trento, Edizioni Universum)

Motorist's Poem

MOTORING POEM

The motoring reports
and the propogandists state
that the Renault 4
is the most reliable car on the market
(apart from Jensen, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes)
Well I guess I always was unlucky
Mine must be the exception
that proves the rule
I've only had the car
for a little over eighteen months
but I've had a decoke
and a reconditioned engine
with new pistons, piston rings,
big end bearings, little ends too,
a new clutch plate, clutch cable,
throttle cable, throttle linkage,
two headlight units, various bulbs,
fuel tank, petrol pump, water pump,
four new tyres, various hoses, fan belt
and complete exhaust system.
two handbrake cables,
two brake drums, eight shoes,
a battery, drive-shaft,
windscreenwiper motor,
a shockabsorber, two
petrol caps (though they'd been stolen)
which more or less
completes the list
of items fitted to a
roomy but noisy,
badly accelerating,
slow little car
that's beginning to show
the usual signs of rust
The garage service
was as poor as the car's
and writing to Renault did no good
Well I never thought it would
And though I never was a proper patriot
I'm buying British next time mate

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st February 1972

Publication

1972 Hallamshire & Osgoldcross Poetry Express (UK)

A Day In The Life Of Ivan Computervitch

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN COMPUTERVITCH

  And the sequence of events
      followed the usual order
      of consecutive procedures
  And the end concluded
      in the final termination
      as was logically expected
  And the next beginning
      started in the manner
      most suitable for commencement
  And the sequence of events
      followed the usual order
      of consecutive procedures
  Until an unforeseen interruption
      caused the unprecedented occurrence
      of a nonstandard deviation
  And before the data could be formulated
      to determine the future direction
      a tertiary path was motivated
  And before the data could be formulated
      to determine the future direction
      a quaternary path was motivated
  And after the approach of the seventh
      order of chaos
      a fuse was blown
  And after the fuse was replaced
      the energy regulator was serviced
      the input adjusted and the output modified
  And the sequence of events
      followed the usual order
      of consecutive procedures
  And the end concluded
      in the final termination
      as was logically expected

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 23rd January 1972

Publications

1975 Sphinx (UK)
1987 ANWUC (UK)

Across the Porter

ACROSS THE PORTER

"rolled on tawny sands, through regions passion-wild,
the groves of love, in jealous beauty dark,
complains the Porter, Nature's thwarted child,
born in the waste"

--- Ebenezer Elliot (1781-1849)

Leaving the house
I stood for near five minutes
waiting for a gap in the traffic down Ecclesall Road
breathing in the fumes of lorries and buses
with their leaded pollution
The sulphurous smoke of steelworks stole the soul of my lungs
the smoke that the City Fathers never claimed
for Europe's cleanest but blamed
on Rotherham and the wind's direction
Having finally crossed
I strolled smartly up Cemetery Avenue
into Frog Walk
where a frog wouldn't be seen dead
at least if it were it would be
Here the footpath crosses the Porter
Sheffield's fifth river now little more than a culverted sewer
a foam-covered, dirty, grey-brown, liquid flow
born in the waste of Upper Burbage Moor
where ramblers tramp an unceasing weekend
Choked by the effluent from the snuff mill
it is a recipient for the discarded pram-bottoms of Sharrow
Here it disappears underground to never see light of day
until after it has merged into the Sheaf and the Don
dying in the waste of sub-city concrete
I left the river quickly
climbed to Sharrow Head and home.

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 14th January 1972

Publication

1974 Strath (UK)

The Findings

THE FINDINGS

The icy road told of a familiar foreboding
The driven snow was a warning
like another season's newmown hay
The wind's bite drew a dog's bark
Chains couldn't trap a canine cognisance
The abandoned cars had dealt up their occupants
to the Squinting Cat or the Hunter's Arms,
where fire, food and liquor locked out the freeze
But there were others
whom only the dogs could sense,
who had set off from the moor's far side
to seek their solace in the snow
Not even the sheep had stayed
to welcome them
The forecast broadcast,
they'd been penned
All night the dogs howled
All night the farmer cursed

The farmer found four corpses
huddled in two loving-pairs

The moor's far side found
its unwelcome hippie guests had gone

The coroner found death
by misadventure

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 10th January 1972

Publications

1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
1990 The Affiliate (Canada)

Have It

HAVE IT

            Have  it
            Show  it
            Hide  it
            Give  it
            Keep  it
            Bed   it
            Save  it
            Make  it
            Sell  it
            Buy   it
            Speak it
            Act   it
            Love  it
            Free  it
            Do    it
            Want  it
            Get   it
            Try   it
            Use   it
            Steal it
            Beg   it
            Lend  it
            Loan  it
            But   above   all

            Have  it

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 2nd January 1972

Publication

1990 The Affiliate (Canada)

Purification

PURIFICATION

In order to purify 1:4-dioxan,
first you add a tenth of its volume
of 14% hydrochloric acid
and reflux it overnight
whilst steadily bubbling through it
a slow stream of nitrogen
Next morning you cool it down
and shake it up with KOH
until no more pellets will dissolve
Having removed the aqueous layer,
to dry it out further,
you leave it to stand
over fresh KOH
for fully twenty-four hours
Then you reflux it once more
over excess sodium
overnight
and finally you distill it
from sodium
Its boiling point
at 760mm of mercury pressure
is 101 degrees C
Store it out of contact with air

Other things
are not
so easily
purified
Take Diana's love for instance
Lack of air only stifles it
and it can't be refluxed
for it doesn't always boil
at an even temperature

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st January 1972

Publications

1993 Mobius (MI, USA)
1998 Snakeskin (Internet)

Birthday Poem

BIRTHDAY POEM

A quarter of a century gone
Tot up the score
of memories stolen from the store
Why do I bother celebrate
this yearly anniversary date
as if time meant something more
than the daily grind of fun ?
A couple of cards from mum and dad and auntie Fan
Another three of these and I'll be
getting a telegram from the Queen
Still it'll all be over and done
tomorrow anyway for an old hasbeen
but a helluva lot still to see
before the lid goes down on the old man
with but a quarter of a century gone

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 21st December 1971

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)

Saturday Night Out

SATURDAY NIGHT OUT

The turn didn't turn up
at the British Legion Club tonight
There was a bus party in from Doncaster
and a wedding party as well
A guy from the former
whose voice was reminiscent of a constipated frog
filled in with his interpretation of Tom Jones
and thought the shouts of "Encore"
meant exactly what they really didn't
Still he was good for a laugh
before bingo took over
The village barber got things going
singing "All around the world"
followed by "Let's twist again"
I borrowed another fellow's wife
to demonstrate to her how once
I was the village's champion twister
But we couldn't win at bingo
my dad and I
so we left early
went home to wife and mum's
fried tatties and bacon supper

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 1st December 1971

Publications

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
1994 Bold Print (USA)

Nursery Rhyme

NURSERY RHYME

The cow jumped over the moon
The dish ran away with the spoon
But it had to stop when they got caught
by an American and a Russian astronaut
who ate that beast
at the first lunar feast

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Harlow, 15th November 1971

Publications

1972 Bogg (UK)
1972 Ludds Mill (UK)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
1993 Daily Cow (USA)

Late Visit to Cambridge

LATE VISIT TO CAMBRIDGE

The river is darker now,
monopoly of the ducks.
The grass is wet with dew
and strewn with leaves
and all, but a few, brave evergreens,
display the naked bark.
The cold, damp, smokeshroud air
clings still
over a silent, city scene.

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Cambridge, 14th November 1971

Publications

1972 Village Review
1990 The Old Police Station

The Worst of Loneliness

THE WORST OF LONELINESS

Loneliness is not something that is difficult to bear
alone It's only when there is someone else who's there
and you know it's something that you cannot share
It's worse when you feel it in a kiss
Loneliness is not something that is hit or miss
The impulse is going off at a tangent
There are two of them They touch but don't impact
That's the hardest fact
the potency of a force that's merely impinging
never cutting through ice
or cracking that nice
but transparent facade that always fails to impress
Once you have it there's no escape It's all duress
Facing the wall won't relieve the stress
Loneliness alone is not so hard to bear
but it's all the worse to share
with an intimate caress

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 11th November 1971

1974 New Headland (UK)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
1992 International Poetry (USA)
1993 Dial 174 (USA)

(41)

penny for the guy ?
for him ? - if you're for him then
why do you burn him ?

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 5th November 1971

Publication

1985 National Poetry Convention Magazine (UK)

Third Meeting with Chicken

THIRD MEETING WITH CHICKEN

The sandwiches
were liberally salted
Appetite
was a two-edged sword
Thaw was attempted
A fuse was blown
and a double No
became the remains
of
cold chicken

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st November 1971

Publications

1975 Ludds Mill (UK)
1990 Sword of Shahrazad (UK)
1991 Impetus (USA)
1996 Target (UK)

Poem for a Poet

POEM FOR A POET

her silkhair flowed like her words
her laughter rang clear as the sound of her words
her eyes pierced the sorrow of her words
her poise was wordform
the poem was the poet
and the poet became the poem

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 20th October 1971

Publications

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
1973 Datr (UK)
1990 International Poetry Suplemento (USA)

Chicken on Ice

CHICKEN ON ICE

     Chips were thawed,
     cooked in fat
     A metal-foiled roast
     emerged from
                        gas
                        oven
     The trimmings too
     were tasty
     Willi Boskovsky
     conducting Strauss
     cut sounds
     in the air
     But at the rink,
     skating,
     chicken fell
     on the ice,
     picked herself up
     and
     cried
     into cider.

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 15th October 1971

Publications

1984 The Old Police Station (UK)
1996 Target (UK)

Chicken on the Moor

CHICKEN ON THE MOOR

Sitting
in the car
on the fog-surrounded moors
waiting
for orders
to abandon position,
chicken
shone up in my headlights;
dipped,
they ran the road
Out of the mist
chicken emerged
boiled in a saucepan
The later safety
of the city
dispelled the haze
Chicken
couldn't
cause
indigestion

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 14th October 1971

Publication

1996 Target (UK)

Veronica

Composed: Sheffield, 10th October 1971

Publications

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
1972 Stillborn (UK)
1982 Global Tapestry Journal (UK)
1988 Agog (London, UK)
1991 Hybrid (UK)
1996 Boggers All (UK)

Note: Some publications using the title Miss V.

To Joan

TO JOAN

The flow of the river at Ilkley
was slow
but the waters
quite steadily
moved

The warmth
of the October sun
was transitory

The plot of the play
was thin
but the acting was good

You too
put up a good show

Je ne regret rein

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 1st October 1971

Publications

1973 Sonnet (UK)
1991 Prophetic Voices (USA)
2005 The Spoon River Poetry Review (USA)

Bourton on the Water: Model of Commercialism

BOURTON ON THE WATER: MODEL OF COMMERCIALISM

The village sits snugly
by the Windrush river
Double-yellow lines adorn the side
of the main road
The parking-lots are filled
The cafes, snackbars and restaurants
provide food for every pocket
from the expensive upwards
The prices are fixed for entry
to the model village,
the model railway,
the tropical birdland
The souvenir shops
price up their paraphernalia
in dollars as well as pounds
The wooden seat by the riverside
was presented to the village
by the Chamber of Commerce

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Bourton on the Water, 9th September 1971

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1989 Aireings (UK)

Cause and Effect: Reflections at Keat's House

CAUSE AND EFFECT: REFLECTIONS AT KEAT'S HOUSE

That a poet lived here
wrote here
was nursed in sickness here
is not to be denied

The house is
visited by
fanatics
admirers
and other interested parties
whose interest
may be aroused
by the saved
relics
of the past
that have outlived the writer
and tend
to take
to the casual lookerin
a greater import
than the poetry
without which
the decay of time
would have destroyed
leaving only the
poetry

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: London, 1st September 1971

Publications

1972 Hallamshire & Osgoldcross Poetry Express (UK)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
1990 EDITOR'S DILEMMA (Ashton under Lyne, New Hope International)
2000 Breathe (UK)

And Having Killed Two Birds

AND HAVING KILLED TWO BIRDS

And having killed two birds with one stone
he attempted by a series of manipulative procedures
to perfect his exterminatory techniques
He succeeded shortly in swatting seven flies with one swipe of the Daily Express
His attention turned then to the possibilities of ants
His boot covered nearly half the hill's area
and six hundred bodies lay squashed in the mire
The survivors crawled quickly over his boot
up his trouser leg to his private parts

Before the first ant reached his navel
he fell over screaming at the pain of the stings
His head cracked open on a stone, brains and blood spilling out,
the red and the grey and the black merging
as two birds flew down, each to peck one eye

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 29th June 1971

Publications

1972 Wormwood Review (USA)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
1990 La Carta de Oliver (Argentina)

*****
Y HABIENDO MATADO DOS PAJAROS

   Y habiendo matado dos pajaros una piedra
   el intento con una serie de procedimientos manipuladores
   perfeccionar sus tecnicas exterminadoras
   En sequida tuvo exito dando un subito golpe a siete moscas
                    con el Daily Express
   Su atencion se centro luego en las posibilidades con
                    hormigas
   Su bota cubria cerca de la mitad del terreno de la colina
   y seiscientos cuerpos yacian aplastados contra el lodo
   Las sobrevivientes gatearon rapidamente a su bota
   por sus pantalones hacia sus partes intimas

   Antes que la orimera hormiga arribase a su ombligo
   cayo gritando por el dolor de las picazones
   Su cabeza se partio en dos sobre una piedra, cerebro y
                    sangre volcandose hacia afuera,
   mientras dos pajaros bajaban volando, para picotear un ojo
                    cada uno.

GERALD ENGLAND

Traduccion: Matias Serra Bradford.


Publication

1990 La Carta de Oliver (Argentina)

And After Little Suzie

AND AFTER LITTLE SUZIE

And after little Suzie
whose breasts were very small
whose cunt was very dark
whose eyes smiled wider than her mouth
came redheaded Tina
who never stopped talking
whose boobs vibrated as she ran
who soon got there but proved frigid actually
was followed by shygirl Judith
who hated being called a Judy
who made coffee played monopoly and had a dad who argued politics
who took a lot of patient work
yet gave herself fully and finally
blamed herself for my leaving her
Big Irma with the padded bra
i left alone for reasons of health
took to Barbara
whose big hunk of a frame
nearly crushed me but i made it
though i filled a crack in the bed with woodfiller later

for two months i rested
another Barbara came and went
then little Suzie reappeared
said she was engaged
i asked to whom
to your child's father she winked
he can afford it i let him
and after little Suzie

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 26th June 1971

Publication

1971 Strange Faeces (UK)

Caedmon Never Had It As Good

CAEDMON NEVER HAD IT AS GOOD

Caedmon never had it as good
Talk about the lonely goatherd,
he was a cowherd man
Looked after his beasts
up on the moors
all night
while the monks
at Stroenschall
got their four hours
of meagre sleep
on a hard, stone bench
in a drear, dank, draughty cell
No sleep for him
watching the herd
What he didn't know
about Love
Did he know
about Love ?
The Love of the Lord ?
He loved them cows
God was in those cows
as he was in the abbey
as he was in the sea
that pounded nightly
at the cliffs
Caedmon had no Latin
in him
He was a cowherd
not a cleric
But he could sing
He could praise the Lord
He did it too
In his own way
He did his thing
No Latin canticle for him
No Te Deum In Gloriam
but Caedmon's Song of Praise,
Caedmon's Metrical Paraphrase of Parts of the Holy Scripture
They've given it a name now
but he just sang it
in his dark Northumbrian tongue
Yorkshire's first poet,
the birth of dialect literature

Caedmon never had it as good
He only loved his cows
He only loved life
He only loved St.Hilda
He only loved God
He only loved the word of God
He spoke his truth
as he only knew how
He'd never had it at all
Who wanted it ?
Who needed it ?
Caedmon never had it as good

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 16th June 1971

Publications

1973 York Poetry (UK)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
1991 Ore (UK)

Note: The version published in Ore was modified at the request of Eric Ratcliffe, omitting the final stanza and reducing the title to CAEDMON.

794 AD

794 A.D.

Adian Offasen starn betyne
Bykay fit si foreen hand
Praen hopped it a la Kent
Terram rapinis et homiciis hent -
derk la mooin - fit ney funderband
sud iver Adian's bear ket styne

Famine ravished, raged et raped
cant lay reenish pheaton cum
et in Lindisfarne dun dey dangeru
Hipwreck in Jarrow set mooir peru
Linnet saved a buking bum
fro erl ley devestatled scaped

Bud roon at roon et forsooth
Praen fuck is hip fer Adian's bear
la blud fit copped it tame
et York neer slain la blame
E harn it roon, fair bad dey hear,
so Bykay clatted in - u huncouth!

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 10th June 1971

Publications

1972 Platform (UK)
1990 Eotu (USA)

Irma

IRMA

Big Irma
with the padded bra
the load voice
and £4.10 stamped on her left shoe,
opens the door at ten past twelve
(a.m., p.m. - who cares ?)
wearing flimsy nightie over temperate flesh
A Lancashire lass with turned up nose
turned it up in canny Shields
Talk of the Jungle
Cheapest crumpet south of the Tweed
Guzzles down a pint of Newcastle Brown
in a minute flat
Never flat-broken
unless you ask
Don't up to the flat
it's cleaner than herself

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 7th June 1971

Publication

1973 Breath of Fresh Air (UK)

Cosy Cullercoats

COSY CULLERCOATS

I came to cosy Cullercoats
for a crab and a kiss from June
The cold wind blew
the sea battered up the beach
the soft sand sank into, filling up
our shoes
Colourful shells were gathered
for Aunt Fanny back home
to make plant-pot holders
The breeze blew sea-shower raindrops
into our faces
Down the road
Lord Collingwood
guarded the Middens
and Danish trawlers
set sail for the Faeroes -
cargoes of fish, cigars, fish, pullovers, fish -
I ate the crab
and left June with a kiss
in Cullercoats

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 6th June 1971

Publications

1972 Contac (UK)
1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
1994 Boggers All (UK)
2005 Sons of Camus Writers International Journal (UK)

(34)

I went to school
with the boys — they always stuck
up for me — she said

© Gerald England

Composed: North Shields, 1st June 1971

Publications

1972 Wormwood Review (USA)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)

Girl

GIRL

Eyes blue
A lighter blue than her skirt
A darker blue than her tights
Her tea-time treat
Is a thin ham sandwich
A bottle of Coke
A packet of plain crisps
And a glass of milk
Nervously adjusting her skirt
Legs crossed
Sat well back in the easy chair
She chews the straw
Squashes it flat
Folds it up
Throws it on the plate
She waits vacantly
Her mascara is tending to run

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 5th May 1971

Publications

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
1991 Pennine Platform (UK)

Column Chromatography

COLUMN CHROMATOGRAPHY

A two-foot long glass column
of inch diameter
with STO3-4 tap
A plug of cotton wool
Column of benzene
One hundred and fifty grams
alumina(Spence) to settle
compact in its benzene bed
Run out solvent to within
a millimetre of the tap
Carefully add the mixture — two compounds,
each making the other impure —
Avoid disturbing the surface
of the alumina
Run out solvent
Not quite let it run dry
Extra care More solvent added
The set-up is set up
The work of separation begins
Fractions of 50ml are collected,
thirty-seven in all
Each compound
separated,
purified by some other technique
More exacting work
can then begin

My love,
we too
were separated
in a different column,
less carefully,
but for a similar reason

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 1st May 1971

Publication

1996 Pulsar (UK)

Sunday

SUNDAY

Hair still in curlers,
a serviceable pink sweater,
some garment of a skirt,
thick legs reaching
into fur-lined slippers,
she fastens one end
of her washing-line
to the special peg fixed
on the outside-toilet wall,
steps over border crocuses,
ties the other end
to an overhanging branch
of next-door's apple tree.


A week of shirts,
six off-white, one blue
and a pair of pillowcases
dance a jig in the breeze;
coloured towels, two sheets,
three bras and a nylon slip
complete the line.

Bird song filters through the air;
from behind the cumulus
the Sunday sun peeps;
the afternoon
looks like being bright
as nearby parks fill.
from my city bedsit window
the view of distant hills
is marred only by the sight
of laundry over the lawn.

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 10th April 1971

Unpublished

Cresswell's Bridge

Photograph © 2007, Tim Heaton and published on Geograph.

CRESSWELL'S BRIDGE

Five houses
silent
washing flapping in the wind
wind rattling
the corrugated-iron door
of the fresh-looking barn
empty houses
no cars parked
no dogs
no hens
no tractors
some signs
of recent habitation
the wind
cutting the silence
flapping the washing
cutting the silence
rippling the waves on the dyke

a locked gate
over a bridge
bars our entrance to Holland

the wind
offers
no key

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Norwich, 7th April 1971

Publications

1971 Headland (UK)
1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)

Note: Have just discovered that the place is actually Casswell's Bridge not Cresswell's Bridge - I must have mis-read the map at the time. The farm would have been Dunsby Fen Farm.

The Goat

THE GOAT

As you entered the town,
no bigger than a village,
along the trunk road from the east
you saw him tied to a flagpole
opposite the service garage
They flew the union-jack at half mast
when he died
Then they dyed him black,
stretched out his neck another nine inches,
stuffed him with taxidermist filler,
put his horns back backwards
and hung him in the Dog & Gun
I never stopped there for petrol again

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st April 1971

Publication

1984 Poetic Licence (UK)

I Am Different

I AM DIFFERENT

So you think I am different
never imagined
that I was like this
Perhaps I am not different
Maybe it is you who are different
the eye that looks at me that is different
Perhaps I am different
I am
I love you
You are
It is you I love
I am different
How ?
Why ?
I do not know
I know no better definition of the change
than to say
I am different

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 28th March 1971

Publication

1972 Contac

Scene 393

SCENE 393

Men
were gathering in the harvest.
Womenfolk
were washing the sweat
out of yesterday's clothes,
keeping a wary eye
on children
playing in odd corners
of the market place.
Dogs
of the villagesized town
were sniffing round the fountain
where a gendarme
sat
sleeping.
Flies hovered
around the dogshit.
A young girl,
soft blonde hair gleaming in the autumn sunlight
her white dress hemmed with dustgrey,
brought a donkey
to drink at the fountain.
Her cheeks were radiant
but blue eyes were hard
cool under the heat of the sun.
Even today
it isn't fun
for a Gascony peasant girl
stared at by tourists.

© GERALD ENGLAND.

Composed: Sheffield, 26th March 1971

Publications

1987 Dictionary of International Literature (USA)
1989 Centre for Hispanic Performing Arts Supplemento (USA)
1992 Bouillabaisse (USA)
1992 Radio Void (USA)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1997 The Bard's Library (Internet)

Telephones

TELEPHONES

I do not like telephones
They intrude
into rooms
demanding an answer
there and then
disrupting any action taking place
not giving time
for reflection
demanding their answer
straight off the cuff
to any speaker
who has the coins in his pocket
and a finger to dial
They have their uses
for speedy communication
of messages
I'll admit
But give me
the leisurely pace of the post
allowing time
for the formulation
of precise answers
the right words
to convey intended meanings
I don't like telephones
Their brrr brr brr
reverberates upon ears
demandingly
intruding
on unsuspecting ears

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 23rd March 1971

Publications

1971 Context (UK)
1973 ENVIRONMENT (Thames Ditton, Ember Press)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)

Satar et Bacchi

SATAR ET BACCHI

Satar's dowly queen fortents
la finder de la climerax
Them cowlads full la city dents
a-wailing et winding on ser fax

Bacchi's boys had sled zi wud
et full la wold were danderund
mile tweny oars skim not i cud
sin dowly queen hed bliperund

So efter full respite hed stan la toll
quierant messlow deing on core
Satar flipped on Bacchi's bowl
et not la many key der more

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 21st March 1971

Publications

1971 Gargantua (UK)
1986 The Old Police Station (UK)
1989 Working Titles (UK)
1991 Apostrophe (UK)

Obituary For A Tulip

OBITUARY FOR A TULIP

Ah felt reeight sorry fer him a fust
sleepin theeir
pu'ch'd on t' edge o t' winderbox
Ah hesitaaited oppnin t' winder
fer feear on distu'bin his slumber

He wer theear agin next day
bud he he'd me
an flew off

I' wer then at Ah becum angry
fer on t' top o t' soil ther lay
fowr red petals haaif-etten
an a bare stamen stood atop a green staa'k
wheeir flahr'd a tulip afooire

Six bulbs Ah planted
i t' backend o lest yeeir -
frost tuk twa -
ther's three left nah

Next tahme
i honour o tha' tulip
Ah'll shooit that bloody burd!

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 14th March 1971

Publication

1972 Yorkshire Dialect Society Summer Bulletin (UK)

Arrival in Nottingham

(1969 - photograph courtesy of Gail's Man at Nottingham Daily Photo.)

ARRIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM

The train
trundles
over the Beeston Canal
with swans cruising up past barges parked townward
into that long
track-covered curve
of ground
Stops
in the Goods Yard North
for passengers
to take stock
of the view
of the castle
standing at
the other end
of the curve's radius,
impressive,
imposing
on its solid rock foundation
Shunts forward
into the Goods Yard West
Further aspects
of the castle
Lurches gradually
into the Goods Yard East
leaving the castle
behind an engine shed
Reaches
eventually
the station.

© GERALD ENGLAND


(2007 - photograph courtesy of Gail's Man at Nottingham Daily Photo.)

Composed: Nottingham, 10th March 1971

Publications

1991 The Vincent Brothers Review (USA)
1993 POET'S ENGLAND: NOTTINGHAMSHIRE (St.Albans, Brentham Press)
1996 MARIGOLDS GROW WILD ON PLATFORMS (London, Cassell)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
2007 Ackworth born, gone West (Internet)

Both Sides Out

BOTH SIDES OUT

Following
a cold, wet tramp -
arriving,
snow-dripping from neck's back -
a two-hour-chat-cum-cup-of-coffee —
a lift returns me
to where green tulip leaves in the window-box
poke their life
out of the whiteness

Below - the virgin-white garden
Beyond — the ravished slush of road

Inside I warm myself

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st March 1971

Publications

1975 INTERNATIONAL WHO'S WHO IN POETRY ANTHOLOGY (Cambridge, Melrose Press)
1990 Next Exit (Canada)
2007 Bolts of Silk (Internet)

(31) & (32)

a good beer-barrel
is not the same thing as a
barrel of good beer

© GERALD ENGLAND

*****

a bad beer-barrel
is almost as bad as a
barrel of bad beer

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 27th February 1971

Publications

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
2005 Beer Haiku Daily (Internet)

On Blushing

ON BLUSHING

Firstly is the coarse blush
that brickred full flush
of romantic heroines
the common product
of a too common phrase

Secondly is the delicate blush
priceless in a girl
whose soul has come to dawn

Thirdly is the passing blush
the product of a happy idea
beautiful in men
charming in a woman
a hot flash
of spiritual lightening
seen best in the young
appearing then
as the modesty of surprise

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 20th February 1971

Publications

1971 Expression One (UK)
1994 International Poetry (USA)
1997 TUA Coffee Shop (Internet)

To The Wind

TO THE WIND

Be quiet
Behave yourself
All morning
you've been rattling at my window
whistling past my chimneytop
shaking the leaves off the trees
banging the not-properly-shut door downstairs
trying to impress me
with your existence
trying to entice me
out of my Sunday-morning bed
Yes
I know
it is a fine and sunny day
but leave me be
and let me stay

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 14th February 1971

Publications

1972 Agog (Scotland, UK)
1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1993 Quickenings (USA)

*****
AO VENTO

Fique quieto
Comporte-se
Toda a ,manha
voce esta uivando em minha janela
assobiando por cima da minha chamine
sacudino as folhas das arvores
batendo as portas do andar de baixo
que nao foram bem fechadas
tentando me impressionar
com sua existencia
tentando me atrair
para fora da minha cama
domingo de manha
Sim
eu sei
e' um lindo dia de sol
mas deixa-me estar
e deixa-me ficar.

GERALD ENGLAND

(Traducao de Teresinka Pereira)

Publication

1986 International Poetry (USA)

(30)

embarrassment is
always flattering to a
young girl's vanity

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 5th February 1971

Publications

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
1973 Contac (UK)

(29)

some girls are like a
glass of champagne - done in a
few frothing moments

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 3rd February 1971

Publications

1972 Moonshine (UK)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)

(28)

the truly ideal
young woman is a girl who
does not have girl-friends

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 2nd February 1971

Publication

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)

(27)

so much involved in
the situation that i
miss the enjoyment

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st February 1971

Publication

1973 Mac (UK)

Movement

MOVEMENT

poets must move with the times he said -
i folded up my newspaper and walked

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 31st January 1971

Publications

1971 Bogg (UK)
1987 Pennine Ink (UK)
1990 Truly Fine (USA)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1993 Prophetic Voices (USA)
2005 Haiku Scotland (UK)

(26)

Haiga © copyright Kuniharu Shimizu, 2000

she does not reflect
upon the mirror but it
reflects her beauty

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 31st January 1971

Publications

1972 Platform (UK)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1993 Lo Straniero (Italy)
2000 Kuni's Haiga Gallery (Internet)

*****


Publication

1994 Mirrors (USA)

(25)

go go now my love
pour scorn on all faithfulness
remorse will follow

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 30th January 1971

Publication

1972 Platform (UK)

A Glimpse

A GLIMPSE

A family
who lives in this town
A widow
and her three daughters
Two of the daughters
are learning to type
at the local Secretarial College
About half past five
on an afternoon in spring
the living-room door was ajar
There was no-one about
Just a girl at the piano
playing a popular melody
The words mocked her beauty
Her beauty mocked the words
The tones were quiet
melancholy
and sad

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 30th January 1971

1972 THE WINE THE WOMEN AND THE SONG (Pyle, Kenfig Press)
1990 International Poetry Suplemento (USA)

Surfeit

SURFEIT

 A surfeit of everything
              of love
                     of wine
                             of music
                                      and of chocolates
              of fame
                      of food
                              of energy
                                      and of cigarettes
              of ambition
                        of doughnuts
                                      of power
                                              and of soup
              finally sapped his strength

              A surfeit
                       of death

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 24th January 1971

1971 Context (UK)
1988 Piddiddle (USA)
1988 Waterways (USA)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)

Temperatures

TEMPERATURES

The snow fell thick and fast
that night
The phone went dead
at half past nine
so we had an early night
The drifts were hard up
against the doors
next morning
The car was marooned
in the old stable
We counted our stocks
of coal,
of food,
and waited for the thaw to come
A helicopter came
on the fifth day
It dropped us some food
and a letter
from your mother
After the snowplough
got finally through
we gathered ourselves together
and I drove you
over the Wolds
to Malton
A slow train to York
then non-stop home
That summer
you bought me a little Galloway
and stabled her in the garage
We rode her together
over Millington Wold
over Cold Wold
and up as far as Thixendale,
your warm body
pressing at my back
I raced her later
at Kiplincotes
Running third two-thirds of the way
she fell and broke her ankle
I had her shot
You left me

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 14th January 1971

Publications

1987 Inkshed (UK)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1996 Boggers All (UK)