Walking up the hill to the poetry class,
talking to myself as if a madman, of how,
tonight, I’ll encourage the students
to write vivid and historical verse.

I’m trying to remember the words 
to ‘Strange Fruit’ and also to turn
willpower over to a god of my own
understanding. It’s hard work.

I note with hope the cheap Christmas lights 
that pulse the November houses. The miners’ 
hours long given away to call centres, 
the credit peddlers, the dreams of children.

And if Christ is the redeemer, then look down 
and hang a woman’s deeds. The one who 
groomed this South Yorkshire town from 
pride to prejudice, from hope to heroin.

Ralph Dartford works for the National Literacy Trust as a project manager in the criminal justice department. He is the poetry editor at www.northerngravy.com. His pamphlet Cigarettes, Beer and Love was published by Osset Observer Presents, 2013, and his collections Recovery Songs, 2019, and Hidden Music, 2021, by Valley Press
Poetry submissions to thursdaypoems@gmail.com.