"Transpennine" by Philip Berry

stubble + lipstick mingle

over fluid mouth

shaping words

the words you’ll sing

when the band meets

in a room above a pub thrust to the margin of a dying town

facing wind and rain

the monochrome posters you designed

damp, askew, peeling forward

tide of friends + friends of friends lapping at your feet

all eyes adoring of your blue-lit chin

back curved, cheeks taut, eyes shut

devour the mic

beyond, fields float

slashed by the silvered paths you walked as a child

hand-in-hand, vodka sick

I watch lyrics flow

from fingers thin as the poet’s pencil

I would follow you out of the carriage

join the audience

stand glass to teeth

bass vibrating my heart

hear the images I watched you order and reorder

but I do not leave

our lives must not intersect.

Philip’s poetry has appeared in Black Bough, Poetry Birmingham, The Healing Muse, Deracine and Dream Noir. He is a London-based doctor and writes extensively on medical ethics. His creative output can be explored at www.philberrycreative.wordpress.com and @philaberry.