by Chris Bryant
One arm stretched out behind my head, dipped back,
I push the other through the water’s swirl
And past my thigh before the next attack,
Propelling me, with languorous aqueous grace
I could not possibly repeat at pace.
The rhythm of the stroke, as lengths unfurl,
Calms down my daily work obsessions,
Inspires free-style inquisitive reflections,
About what happens when we all cut back.
Above me, on the polycarb’nate roof
A single leaf is twisting in the gale.
Each time I pass beneath, it spins above
And chases some imaginary tail.
When I return next week, will it be there?
And will the baths be open in a year?
Chris Bryant is Labour MP for Rhondda and a shadow justice minister.
Tags: backstroke, Chris Bryant, cuts, poem, swimming
An excellent work in its own right, Chris but I suspect summing up what is going to happen across the board .
Very good, more like this please!
Don’t give up the day job.
Although it’s good to see that Mr Bryant knows a few long words that rhyme, he should ultimately stick to deficit denying.
Uh… really?!
Whether or not the baths stay open is entirely up to the Welsh Assembly and how it decides to distribute the money.
Matthew Distribute English Money because most of Wales is Service Industry
Colin says ‘do not give up the day job’. I would plead with you to do just that. You are by far a much better poet than a politician. We English pay you enough as it is, indeed far too much. If you cannot sort out one bathing pool, then stick to watching the leaves. Support an English Parliament.
It’s interesting to note, England has 20% cuts whereby Scotland N ireland and Wales get 7% they also got a devolved parliament, there is gross discrimination and inequality in the so called UK.
Well done Chris Bryant. I do feel the world would be a better place if more poets than bankers were running our affairs.
An English parliament, what a splendid idea. Well there’s a good few million more of you than the populations of the lowly Celtic Nations. Why then do you seem so incapable of sorting it out.
Thanks for the reminder to work on my front crawl stroke… especially brushing past my thigh…