Opening

Alongside

Sam and Taz

travelling

between Kings

looking for work

and a room to rent

hand roguing

wild oats sprawling

through shimmering swathes

of barley

up

down

down

up

singing

as we went.

On Fridays

a small brown

wage packet

pressed into

my hand

a passport

to music.

Portass & Carter

paired me

with a dark green six-string.

We thumbed our way

nine miles

to Holbeach

tipping coins

into honesty boxes

devouring

strawberries

from Fenland gardens.

The winter before

I slept crouched

in a Marble Arch

doorway

while the barley

bedded

in silted

ground

wild oats

barley

and me

opening

into summer.

Poem note

Written from a memory of Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, 2002. A spoken-word poem by Claire L. Gibb, published 25 August 2026.

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