John Lindley
Rebel Boots in Rochdale
So the boots helped,
as did the combat jacket
and the army surplus fatigues.
The khaki beret he decided
was taking things too far,
even for an urban guerrilla.
It was the boots really;
they gave him that bounce
that meant business;
that got him noticed.
Well, those and the jacket
where his pocketed fists
rammed the khaki material ahead of him.
That jacket said something.
But not as much as the boots.
The boots made the statement
because they were vocal
as well as visual.
Well, not very vocal, it's true,
with their leather soles creaking
but louder than the jacket, certainly.
Louder than the green fatigues.
And louder than the beret he left at home.
That too was making its own quiet statement,
of course - inhaling like a failed cake
on the coffee table.
It was a bit like his private revolution in fact:
always able to look the part without ever quite
managing to rise to the occasion.
as did the combat jacket
and the army surplus fatigues.
The khaki beret he decided
was taking things too far,
even for an urban guerrilla.
It was the boots really;
they gave him that bounce
that meant business;
that got him noticed.
Well, those and the jacket
where his pocketed fists
rammed the khaki material ahead of him.
That jacket said something.
But not as much as the boots.
The boots made the statement
because they were vocal
as well as visual.
Well, not very vocal, it's true,
with their leather soles creaking
but louder than the jacket, certainly.
Louder than the green fatigues.
And louder than the beret he left at home.
That too was making its own quiet statement,
of course - inhaling like a failed cake
on the coffee table.
It was a bit like his private revolution in fact:
always able to look the part without ever quite
managing to rise to the occasion.
magazine list
- Features
- zines
- 10th Muse
- 14
- Acumen
- Agenda
- Ambit
- Angel Exhaust
- ARTEMISpoetry
- Atlas
- Blithe Spirit
- Borderlines
- Brando's hat
- Brittle Star
- Candelabrum
- Cannon's Mouth, The
- Chroma
- Coffee House, The
- Dream Catcher
- Equinox
- Erbacce
- Fabric
- Fire
- Floating Bear, The
- French Literary Review, The
- Frogmore Papers, The
- Global Tapestry
- Grosseteste Review
- Homeless Diamonds
- Interpreter's House, The
- Iota
- Journal, The
- Lamport Court
- London Magazine, The
- Magma
- Matchbox
- Matter
- Modern Poetry in Translation
- Monkey Kettle
- Moodswing
- Neon Highway
- New Welsh Review
- North, The
- Oasis
- Obsessed with pipework
- Orbis
- Oxford Poetry
- Painted, spoken
- Paper, The
- Pen Pusher Magazine
- Poetry Cornwall
- Poetry London
- Poetry London (1951)
- Poetry Nation
- Poetry Review, The
- Poetry Salzburg Review
- Poetry Scotland
- Poetry Wales
- Private Tutor
- Purple Patch
- Quarto
- Rain Dog
- Reach Poetry
- Review, The
- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
- Seventh Quarry, The
- Shearsman
- Smiths Knoll
- Smoke
- South
- Staple
- Strange Faeces
- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
- Thumbscrew
- Tolling Elves
- Ugly Tree, The
- Weyfarers
- Wolf, The
- Yellow Crane, The