July's Spotlight fell on Andrew Smith.
Andrew is resident of Queensbury on the Halifax/Bradford border. A diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome at the age of 41 has not stopped him from pursuing a love of writing poetry, monologues and short stories. He is a regular performer on the Calderdale poetry circuit and combines his love of writing with a love of fell running.
I Run
Because the sun shines high in a clear blue sky
Because leaves rustle in the cooling breeze
Awaken sleepy birds from their daydream
Because dew raising through the morning mist
Moistens my dry lips and I can breathe again
Because the cat meows making the dog bark
And the mouse runs under the skirting board
Because the children play in parks and fields
Unaware that I am even there or even exist
Because the gravestones stand to attention in formation
All proudly displaying names, dates and family history
Because the artist does not care as he paints with madness
The blue sky black and the stream running into the sky
Because cars stop and start, go left, go right
Backwards and forwards in a multicolour ribbon of metal
Because they are there, everywhere I go, every single day
Every single night, wherever I go they are there
Because girls stand on street corners smoking and drinking
While boys ride motorbikes down back alleys
Because four walls encase me leaving me lifeless,
Soulless, motionless, breathing in stale air drenched with sweat
Through walls thick with yesterday’s newspaper headlines
Because every hour of every day it is there and I am here
Listening intently as it calls me constantly, never ending
Like a wolf howling in the night for me to come and kiss it
And feel its breath enter my body and touch my soul.
© Andrew Smith
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