I was commissioned by Belinda for an art event in Birmingham back in 2010, along with fellow illustrator Robin Clare who illustrated one or two of Belinda's other poems. (All illustrations below are by me.)
Items Found on Public Transport (by Belinda Bradley)
A Barbie birthday cake,
a “Nobody Likes Me” CD
by Alice Cooper,
a Misty Pink lipstick,
thirteen stick insects,
a mouldy cheese sandwich,
a goldfish named Slurpy,
a Nokia 1208 mobile phone,
a 2 year old,
a silver trombone,
a dinosaur bone,
a packet of brown rice,
six dead mice, white,
a “Kiss” wedding dress,
a prosthetic leg,
a last will and testament,
a copy of “Harry Potter
and the Philosopher’s Stone,”
£30,000 in used bank notes,
a black brolly,
a cat called Holly.
I Remember (by Belinda Bradley)
I remember...
the bus
red,
covered in cobwebs
in the garden shed.
I remember....
the blossom
pink,
daisies
on the olive sink.
I remember ……
my ragdoll
blue,
school shoes
shiny and new.
the blossom
pink,
daisies
on the olive sink.
I remember ……
my ragdoll
blue,
school shoes
shiny and new.
I remember ……
the white swans
on the wall,
threadbare carpet
in the narrow hall.
the white swans
on the wall,
threadbare carpet
in the narrow hall.
I remember……
my grandma
calling a dress “a frock,”
and saying
“you are soppy” a lot.
my grandma
calling a dress “a frock,”
and saying
“you are soppy” a lot.
I remember……
ballet lessons
and tap,
looking in the mirrors
thinking I looked fat.
ballet lessons
and tap,
looking in the mirrors
thinking I looked fat.
I remember……
the first time I was alone
with a boy in my room,
my dad asking
“is he going home soon?”
the first time I was alone
with a boy in my room,
my dad asking
“is he going home soon?”
I remember ……
the day
my twin sister left,
how I wept
and wept and wept.
the day
my twin sister left,
how I wept
and wept and wept.
Through the window of the Manchester train (by Belinda Bradley)
I watched her walk away,
a nondescript figure
on an empty platform.
I saw her sure-footed steps
as we sped past,
watched the draft lift
my sister’s thick brown hair.
Her lasting impression
fossilised in the changeable air.