This bit of Mancunian mischief is dedicated to Larry.


Mancunian Rhapsody

There are thirty-three Manchesters in the USA,
Lucky old America is what I say,
I'd like to visit them all one day,
The thirty-three Manchesters of the US of A.

But fear of flying keeps my feet on the ground,
And the thought of water makes my heart pound,
Frankly crossing the Pond fills me with dread,
Guess I'll have to visit Manchester,England, instead.

But I don't mind not having to roam,
For Manchester,England, is my home,
I was born there in nineteen fifty one,
To Lottie and Jim, their second son.

I'll take a bus tomorrow down memory lane,
Drive past the addresses of joy and pain,
Lo the Blackley boy bouncing his ball,
Lo the Crumpsall chap crying in the hall.

I'll kneel awkwardly in the Cathedral,
Buy salvation in the shopping mall,
I'll stand on the first train station,
Sell King Cotton to the faux nation.

But this is where England and America meet,
For in a square down a street
Abe Lincoln's statute proudly stands:
Tall torso, stern stare, heavy hands.

And on the presidential plinth it reads
How Abe's heart profoundly bleeds
For the cotton workers of Manchester,
Laid off because of the Civil War.

There are thirty- three Manchesters in the USA,
Lucky old America is what I say,
But there's only one Manchester in the UK,
The mother of all Manchesters I'm proud to say.












Poetry by Christopher Fernie The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 615 times
Written on 2017-09-18 at 22:11

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Sameen
There are thirty-three Manchesters in the USA? Wtf That's funny and so's this poem.
2017-09-19



Mancunian Rhapsody! A delight from start to finish!
2017-09-19


Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Nice. Thanks Chris. The only Manchester I've visited is the one in Missouri, near Saint Louis. I like to see yours.
2017-09-19


ken d williams The PoetBay support member heart!
Bravo, Chris. The Manchester, cotton spiners, had as they rightly saw two choices, live on the bread line, or live on Starvation, parish relif. In uport of freeing the slaves in America. They chose parish relif, beeing stubon, mancks, they stuck to it, till the slaves were finaly freed, at th end of the war of the staites.
Ken
2017-09-18