South Chingford Poetry

   Welcome to the South Chingford Poetry Blog! If this is you first visit, then you may wish to  view the preamble  first, to see how and why the blog was developed. If you have visited before, you may prefer to  proceed directly to the list of poems  available for reading. Some people prefer to listen to poems being read out to them, rather than reading them, so recordings have been added in some cases (the links are at the beginning). Navigation through the blog is entirely via hyperlinks, which in general appear as blue text. Just click on these to follow where they lead (on a computer, the cursor shape changes to a hand when you hover over a link). At the end of each poem, there is a "RETURN TO LIST OF POEMS" hyperlink, which facilitates moving from reading or listening to one poem, to another. Thank you to all the contributors for allowing me to post their work. Enjoy!                                                                                            Updated 13th

 The Bard of Chingford Mount wrote two "cheerful" new Limericks on his 60th birthday. they follow: Reaching 60 I will be very very old. It won't be so bad I have been told. Will soon need a new hip and knee. Have to get up six times a night to wee. And need a hat and cardigan to keep out the cold Steve Marson There is poetic licence in this equally cheerful second Limerick. He did not have a hernia, but struggled for a rhyme for laryngitis (which he did have quite badly)! ... and he did not spend the day in bed crying! Those that say 60 is just a number are lying. I am 1 year closer to dying. I have laryngitis.  A hernia that is hiatus. And will spend my birthday in bed crying Steve Marson RETURN TO LIST OF POEMS

 Steve Marson in the library makes no secret of the fact that he hates poetry. But then he can apparently instantly produce a pertinent Limerick about whatever is of interest to him at the time. Some of his Limericks are in this blog (not all of them are suitable for publication!). Here is a tribute to his talents: My friend Steve, he hates a good ode and the library's his favourite abode but when his brain is in gear wonderful Limericks appear He's the Bard of Chingford Mount Road! Richard Ashen RETURN TO LIST OF POEMS  

Steve can write Limericks very quickly about events of the day. This one concerns a volunteer who lives part of the year in the UK, and the rest overseas. In the library I have a pal. Her name is Michelle Jamal. Years ago she left these shores. For a country with archaic laws. And now she supports Al Hilal. (Al Hilal is a Saudi football team) Steve Marson RETURN TO LIST OF POEMS

This is Teddy O'Hara's description of his experience with "Nana" which resulted in the Chingford Memorial park receiving the nickname "The Lost Park" from the volunteers in South Chingford Community Library.  LOST PARK In the Lost Park , where chaos prevails, Nana and I, navigating funny trails. Nearly ten years on, still lost in our jest, In the Lost Park, where confusion's the best. In the Lost Park, Nana and I strayed, A one-time misstep, where laughter was laid. A tale we share, a chuckle on our lips, In the Lost Park, where our sense of direction slips. All around, Lost Park's the phrase on tongues, Nana's tale, where laughter sprung. A quirky name, a shared remark. In Lost Park, where echoes embark. Teddy O'Hara    January 2024 RETURN TO LIST OF POEMS