THE CHAINS BY LUKE WRIGHT ft. LORA STIMSON

Poet Luke Wright has long been an inspiration to this writer's own poetic ambitions. So it is with extra delight that we feature one of his works here.
The poem here is called On Revisiting John Betjeman's Grave, but repurposed as The Chains - catchier, less of a mouthful - and laid over a langorous electronic beat and augmented with vocals from Lora Stimson to take it to a totally new level, Stimson's soaring voice at odds with Wright's Essex tones.

On Revisiting John Betjeman’s Grave Ten years ago we slouched up here to you, a band of gobby boys against the world, a cobweb string of paying gigs to keep us from the dole. We walked up from the beach across the easy seventh hole, new beards and cocksure hair, to try and forge ourselves a link, then fasten it to yours. The poem that I wrote claimed some success in this. But mostly it was mimicry - a ditty dashed like homework then a rush down to the sea. Today I come at you from Pityme alone, down salty Cornish lanes, their hedges heaving with the goods of May, until I reach the course and see the sunken church behind the green. Your grave is just the same, the stone looks fresh. It seems the decade has been kind to you ,but what of me? For one, I know you that much better now. Back then you were the bard of railways, of chintz and church and teashop trysts, in towns I’d never know. But now I see the terror, shame and sin. The endings I would shrug a shoulder at will startle like a newborn’s cry then heap their weight on me.

Wright is touring his show What I Learned From Johnny Bevan all over the country this autumn and winter. For dates, see his website and follow him @lukewrightpoet