Wallking Down the Street in Walthamstow
By: Kay Houlgreave
About The Poem
I was inspired by my husband Dougie who went for a walk and talked to a neighbour for the first time. We are all so busy, we never have time to speak and appreciate where we live.
The Poem
We wanted to go out
For air and exercise
So we walked down the street
During Lockdown
Face masks ready,
We rolled up our sleeves
To catch the sun’s rays on our skin
Hoping to find something interesting
We looked at the row of terraced houses
In the street
Front doors and windows in a line
Familiar Similar
Then we looked again
Far above eye level
“Look!” Look!”
“Never noticed that before.”
We saw the date the house was built,
1882 faintly etched in concrete
Above the front door
“Let’s see if there are any more”
We saw some roofs had different shapes and sizes
We found ornate decorations
etched
in the brick work
A woman 3 doors down from our house
Came out with a rubbish bag and put it in the bin.
She smiled and waved to us.
“Who’s that?”
She must have heard us.
“I’m Sally,” she said.
“Pleased to meet you.”
We said our names
We talked for an hour
Where did the time go?
Then we carried on walking
In the street
where we live.
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