William Barton Poems

The Council proposes to stop up and enclose
The following thoroughfares: -
Turkey Lane, Lathbury Road,
Llandaff Street, St Mary's Street,
...

A damp and dreary day for walking;
Still and cold with fine rain falling.
Mist swirls round shadowy barns,
hiding walls, fields and fell side.
...

Doubtful, in cold winter ground,
they hide your fragile form -
hardly more than dust itself-
hoping the mysteries
...

My fragile memorial flowers
Shiver in the darkening breeze.
And my two sad candles -
Tearfully reflected
...

Bubbles…
Clear water
oozing
through grass
...

Founded in stone and water,
Its tough old bark deeply scored
By disputations of wind and rain.
Gargoyle limbs writhe and twist
...

On the Middlewood Way the festival of May has almost ended -
white and pink blossom replaced by crimson clover,
spindly dog daisies, blue forget-me-nots, fox-gloves, and king-cups.
...

Born on a croft, your forefathers
dug peat and potatoes.
As for you, a lifetime in the pit,
harvesting the black gold.
...

In York there is a castle,
Its name is Clifford's Tower.
Around the hill the traffic swirls
And passes hour by hour.
...

Train passing winter grey fields
With impromptu pools reflecting greyer skies;
Passing fallow fields, homeless hedges
And empty skeleton trees.
...