One is now home and the
other is a birthplace,
Between here and over
there rests a conscience.
Two traditions but so very
different in attitudes,
One immersed in new
politics but a broken history.
The other blending itself
with progressive changes,
Silk Town treasures woven
into fresh new heritage.
Belfast has fragility with
a more peaceful direction,
Old habits and animosities
still raise voices of dissent.
The colloquial warmth and
ordinariness has been lost,
Tourist frenzy has
engulfed what was once a hometown.
Familiarity has had its
heart ripped out and rebranded,
Fabricated zones embrace made-up
hens and wild stags.
It’s odd walking in cold
shadows as a revisiting stranger,
Recognition finds a
welcome on Macclesfield’s cobbles.
Peaks and Plains with
their forty shades of country green,
Mills stand alongside the meandering
canal with its charm.
Treacle Town revives past
festivities with united energies,
The Market Place comes
alive with annual family events.
Colourful stalls entice
with Cheshire’s cheesy local produce,
Barnaby Carnival recalls a
busy past remembered in silk.
Music’s roots bring joy to
new waves and old time blues,
The accent of belonging rests
amidst two different locales.
©Copyright Eileen T O’Neill 05/03/2015
Poetry Jam Prompt:
‘Local.’..
when i lived in florida...every winter we would get the snow-birds...those escaping the cold...and you would have new neighbors for a season...and the roads would be busy...then in the summer you get tourist families...it was almost like there were 3 different normals...when no one came...when the old did...and when the families did...belonging is important though...that feel of home...where ever you are...
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you have shared / compared your present home &your birthplace. So glad that Belfast now has a more peaceful direction. And I can feel the joy of going to Barnaby Carnival & also love visiting stalls with local produce....they really portray a sense of people and place,I think. Thanks for taking part, Eileen!!
ReplyDeleteI can really feel what it is to walk between what is now home and one's birthplace I feel the same way when I visit Kelowna, land of my childhood, as opposed to Tofino, home of my spirit. I especially love your line about walking in cold shadows as a revisiting stranger. How I felt exactly my last trip to Kelowna. I also love "Recognition finds a welcome in Macklesfield's cobbles."
ReplyDeleteThere comes a time when you realize that your birthplace - which might also be where you grew up - is no longer home, or at least not in the sense it used to have. I too am glad that Belfast is more peaceful than it used to be. And I like the little bit of British history waht you say about Cheshire suggests.
ReplyDeleteA birth-place will always find a fondness in a corner of one'd heart. Irrespective where it was but more so Belfast is very peaceful now. It makes a trip back to be so significant and nostalgic! Wonderful write Eileen!
ReplyDeleteHank
"Familiarity has had its heart ripped out and rebranded,
ReplyDeleteFabricated zones embrace made-up hens and wild stags."
These lines hurt so deeply. It is a terrible thing to see a place lose its soul at the hand of "progress". May we keep the memory of what was, with all its charm, alive in our hearts.
We do find ourselves as revisiting strangers to our birthplaces specially if there's a lot of change...I like the ambiance of the 'two different locales' you've sketched...
ReplyDeleteI can see Cheshire in my mind, those hard cobbled streets, little markets, the wonder and beauty of a living, breathing market town and community.
ReplyDeleteKind of same situation here. Beautifully penned!
ReplyDeleteNostalgia tends to blunt sharp corners, and our memory makes harsh and dark colours pastel-toned, Eileen. No mater how painful the past has been we tend to retain what good we were able to glean from it. Change, even if for the better in some instances tend to jar our memories and dealign them, creating the sort of tension you've beautifully expressed in your poem.
ReplyDeleteRecognition and familiarity is nice.
ReplyDeleteHow we love our city!