First post, so be gentle.
Just wondering if anyone knows of any good poems that sum up the feeling of the recession of the 1980s and or the pit closures.
Writing my thesis at the moment and need a piece that helps sum up the doom and gloom of hurrendous unemployment.
Any info appreciated.
Cheers,
Phil.

found this:


"Ee, but ar remember t'strike
T'struggle, t'borrerin and t'like
Laughs an' all we'ed them as well
Some a bit too brarn to tell".

Eh arr remember t'strike,
wor a lad, an't tyres were knackered on mi bike.
Thatcher on't telly,
Not much snap in me belly,
an ah cund av t' things that a liked.

Mi dad wor a miner y' know,
ee wor angry at firs n' it showed.
But Arthur saw him,
an' his talk that we'd win.
but then he really got low.

Meanwhile in London was wealth,
eeh a bet that was good for their 'ealth!
They said we're agressive,
but they got the wrong message.
and they closed all the mines with their stealth.

It's twenty year later I said
did that stuff all go on in my head?
our PM is new labour,
.. do us a favour,
it seems working class is better off dead.

Ah'm a picket
A Yorkshire picket
'Appen some of you've seen me on TV
Ah'm a picket
A Yorkshire picket
Do you believe exactly what you see?

I'm fighting for you son; look back on this day,
Your right is to work lad but also to play.
Your mam's counting pennies and precious black coal,
So we'll stand up and fight lad, your future's our goal.

Let not their glories be forgotten
when taking stock this day.
So you might work tomorrow
they gave blood and 12 months pay.

Don't know about the poem, but I have one of the special versions of windows http://www.avolites.org.uk/jokes/northerners.doc


Tazz

Nice one.
Muddycoffee, do you know the author, date of that poem?
Would be more than helpful.
Seems to sum it up perfectly.
Thanks again,
Phil.

Originally posted by PhilPurvis
Nice one.
Muddycoffee, do you know the author, date of that poem?
Would be more than helpful.
Seems to sum it up perfectly.
Thanks again,
Phil.
Hi Phil,
thanks for compliment I made it up and posted it after reading your question. So date is
17-02-2005 11:07 PM

not quite grim up north..... but a nice poem that most sheffield people walk over every day without noticing...

"Here lies
a city's heart.
There in her hills lie
her green bones. Quiet under
the clutter of houses and streets.
And there in her rivers run veins
That long ago powered her mills.
Her long limbs reach to the
moors. But here, here
lies her throbbing
heart."


http://public-art.shu.ac.uk/sheffield/kil165.html

Originally posted by LoopyLou
"Here lies
a city's heart....

by Berlie Doherty. I remember seeing the mason carving this inscription, in a little marquee on The Moor, close to where it was laid.

HughW