Last year, as part of the Winchester Poetry Festival, Jon Seagrave aka Jonny Fluffypunk was engaged as the City’s Poet on the High Street. One of the many wonderful things to come out of this was a chance for Jonny to chat to residents, visitors and business owners in Winchester.
We were lucky to be one of the businesses that Jonny visited. He gamely listened to me wax lyrical about my 3 loves (oh, and Gary!) Vintage Fashion, Lop-eared Rabbits and Theatre. Out of my ramblings, Jonny created a special poem for me as he did for other business owners around the City. When he came to the shop to read it to me, I do confess I shed a tear, as I do every time I read it. I thought it would be nice to share it here with friends and customers – you might recognise one or two references, including one to the sign I pop up on the shop door when I need a “comfort break”!
For Karen, at Stardust Years
Look at her. Sits in here, behind the counter, waiting on the dialled
phone to ring, to offer her a part; a stage role cast in Bakelite
and sure, she’ll have something good, no doubt, straight off her racks,
and lipstick every shade of midnight waiting room to boot.
Above the city, potty-mouthed microwaves are bouncing off cathedral
walls, pinging dick-pics and discount codes to a populace more attuned
to tiny screens, and even grannies here are wearing day-glo trainers.
This is not a world for her; she lights candles on the Bette Davis shrine,
cuddles up to lop-eared bunnies in a quiet corner, barricades the door.
She’ll be alright, she thinks; she’s holed up with a good supply
of Rayne heels and dresses of the sort of cut that get
asked out by calling cards, not one-line texts,
and she’s wrapped herself against the dark with a
stardust coat sewn from half-remembered closing lines
and memories of ice-cream trays hung from swan-necked girls.
So when that phone rings, she’ll be ready. She’s written the card;
she’ll put it in the window as she goes. Just popped out
to 1937. Back in two twitches of a rabbit’s nose.
By Jonny Fluffypunk, Poet on the High Street, 2021
As part of his role, Jonny also mapped out a poetic history of Winchester based on the people he met around the City, “Winchester: A Poetic History in Inconsequential Moments” You can purchase the outstandingly well-priced book via The Winchester Poetry Festival’s website below or through the lovely P & G Wells Bookshop in our own fair city!
https://www.facebook.com/jonnyfluffypunk/
https://www.chesiltheatre.org.uk/
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