Spuggies Poem by Fleur Adcock

Spuggies

Rating: 4.5


The spuggies are back -
a word I lifted from Basil Bunting
and was never entirely sure how to pronounce,
having only seen it in print, in Briggflatts,
and at the time had little cause to adopt
with the London sparrow in extinction;
but now three are cheeping in my lilacs.

The other word I learned from Basil Bunting
he spoke aloud, the last time I met him:
‘bleb', meaning condom - as used, he said
(to his severe disapprobation)
by 12-year-old girls on the Tyne & Wear
housing estate where we were calling on him.
I think they asked him if he had any.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Ratnakar Mandlik 08 December 2018

An intriguing write. Off course, we witness many intriguing things under the garb of modern or ultra modern trends. Congrats on modern poem of the Day.

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Edward Kofi Louis 08 December 2018

London sparrow! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.

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Prabir Gayen 08 December 2018

Modern poem of mundane world...piece of art and words are used with artful manner.very precise and beautiful..

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Adrian Flett 08 December 2018

A clever shift from the relatively mundane to the shocking: 12 year-old girls ask, 'I think they asked him if he had any'. In the first stanza the same shift occurs 'but now three are chirping in my lilacs'.

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