Greg Freeman

 West Byfleet, Surrey, UK

Greg Freeman is a former newspaper sub-editor. His debut poetry pamphlet Trainspotters was published by Indigo Dreams in 2015. 

Poem completed 3rd May 2020.

WALKING THE STREETS

The last time I walked the streets

like this was as a teenager. Spring

was so much in the air it drove

you mad. Passing telephone boxes

until at last you wrenched open

the heavy door and stepped inside

and made the call and it was over. 

My hair is nearly as long as when

it was policed at school.

Poems insist on being written,

just as they did then. Now I am old

and they are about my daughter

and her family in Spain

tormented by their first

glimpses of freedom. The

worst moment perhaps

is when a door opens

just a crack and you realise all

you’ve been missing for so long.

And that things will never be

quite the same from now on.