To Be On The Road

from Northern Sketches by Gary Bunting

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lyrics

To Be On The Road

I took a trip to the coast today
A road trip with my dad
It wasn’t exactly Kerouac
As we ate sandwiches in our anoraks
We watch a confused whippet get reunited with its owner
Took a park and ride bus into the town centre

I hadn’t been to this place in maybe thirty years or so
But I remember drinking Coca-Cola in glass bottles
Chip butties and bingo callers
Maggie’s den and legs eleven
One armed bandits and slot machine heaven
Sandcastles, sailing boats
Bats swooping down as we walked home to our caravan
Which was destroyed in a storm
Folded up like a cardboard box
Awoken at night by the squalling foxes

Like you, I’ve been restricted in life
Spent eighteen months not venturing outside
Of the sane old towns, the same old places
The same old faces that you see around
And there we were, in crowds and smells
Bumper cars and Ferris wheels
Pink candy floss spinning slowly
Toffee apples to rot your molars
The beach, long and empty, swathed in sunshine
A couple of kids in the rock pools laughing
Reminds me of when we went crabbing

I can’t say, hand on heart, that everything came flooding back
Places change, towns get rearranged
Into one way systems and tenement flats
It’s not all Bridlington rock and “Kiss me quick” hats
Oh, my sister, she wore deeley boppers!
I just remembered that!

It was a good day
To be on the road

credits

from Northern Sketches, released October 22, 2021

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Hello America Stereo Cassette

A new record label releasing audio recordings of writers' work. Poems backed by noise. Novels as audio books. Stories on cassettes. Curated by Adam Gnade. Currently accepting submissions.