AN EXCERPT FROM MY POEM, "BRUMMIE" (CONCERNING MY CHILDHOOD).

on Saturday mornings

we went to the flicks

(we never said pictures.

we went to the flicks)


if we wanted to go to the flicks

we could go to

the Luxor

the Triangle

the ABC Moseley

or the Imperial

and we could see

cartoons

a newsreel

a film

and a serial

and what we loved best

was the serial

the serial was great

every week

the hero got trapped

and we couldn’t work out

how he’d get out of it

we waited all week

to see him get out of it

and he always got out of it

and my favourite serial

was Batman


Batman was on

at the ABC Moseley

and Batman was great

it started off

with loud scary music

then a big black bat

that filled up the screen

and then came the bit

where it ended last week

when Batman was trapped.

like in episode 5

(the electrical brain)

when Batman

was trapped in a cellar

with knives

in the wall

moving in closer

until the knives came

right up to his face

and we couldn’t work out

how he’d get out of it

we waited all week

to see him get out of it

then in episode 6

(embers of evil)

Robin came in with a crowbar

and saved him


and once we saw Batman

trapped in a plane

in episode 9

(the mark of the zombie)

we saw the plane crash

and burst into flames

and we couldn’t work out

how he’d get out of it

we waited all week

to see him get out of it

but the following Saturday

I had to visit

my Auntie in Stourbridge

which meant that I missed it

so I didn’t know

how he got out of it

but then I found out

that Batman was on

at the ABC Yardley

which was one week behind

the ABC Moseley

which meant it was showing

episode 10

(the sign of the sphinx)

so the following Saturday

I went to Yardley

and while we queued up

two kids started fighting

and one threw the other

right over his shoulder

and his foot hit my face

and my nose started bleeding

and I couldn’t go in

until it stopped bleeding

so I missed

the film

the cartoons

and the newsreel

but managed to get in

in time for the serial

and then it began

with loud scary music

and a big black bat

that filled up the screen

and then we saw Batman

trapped in the plane

we saw the plane crash

and burst into flames

and I waited to see

how Batman got out of it

I couldn’t wait to see

how he’d get out of it

and Batman got out of it


he simply got out of it


he got out of the plane

and staggered off out of it

and after that

I went off Batman

for a bit


This is not included in my forthcoming book, The Freewheeling John Dowie, available here: https://unbound.com/books/the-freewheeling-john-dowie

 

j.dowie@icloud.com © John Dowie 2013