Short Tyne Poems

At sweet sixteen she'd never been kissed
And then she met Miss Kuni Lynn Guist
A sweet Valentine
Would suit her just fine
And Mr. Wright would never be missed...

Read More

ROOTS



I’ve  still got coal dust in my vein
And the smell of the Tyne on my skin
I’ve tried hard to scrub it in vain
Childhood’s  the  vessel  I  keep  my  mask  in....

Read More

CALL  OF THE  TYNE



The river fog grey-green
Hides the silent piers
Of bridges which lead 
To roads unknown. 

The Tyne’s call of the deep -
Fog-horn, long missed
And far buried within me,
Shows the hidden way unknown;

Feels slowly cautiously
Through miles years 
With low-pitch note, 
Penetrates the unknown. 


13  October   2019...

Read More

TYNE - BUILT    SHIP    1968

Gigantic steel  behemoth
Sitting on the ways greased
And ready to give it birth,
Ten-storey-high  street-darkener,
Rusted and immobile  -

Once launched in silent swish
And cheered by a thousand voices,
Transformed to marine elegance,
And slimmed by the vastness 
Of the endless ocean  -

She moves easily in her element,
Dolphin and whale at the same time....

Read More

SHADOW    TOWN


A shadow town with only a past
Abandon hope all  ye  who cross
The black iron bridge over the smell of the Tyne
Tyres hiss on the wet road as they pass
And leave me here in the dark
Murky rain dirty roads 
November in  Gateshead   
In the shadow of gloriously dirty Newcastle

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Note

Anyone who had the misfortune to live in Gateshead  in 
the 1970s  will understand the feelings in this verse....

Read More

Tyne Cot War Cemetery

White head stones in countless rows
Soldiers all from the Great War battles

Thousands dead now glory served
Each one a son and loved one

Victoria Cross engraved as heroes found
Known unto God a sad refrain written

On the stone “Their name liveth for Evermore”
A Christian Cross on top of a German pill-box

Sacrifice for the “War to End Wars” unfulfilled
A hundred years past but still it begs belief.

© Paul Warren Poetry...

Read More