Bradford Middleton lives in Brighton, England.  Recent poems of his have appeared at the likes of Cacti Fur, Beatnik Cowboy, Yellow Mama, Mad Swirl, Unlikely Stories V5, Horror Sleaze Trash, Dear Booze as well as right here at Impspired.  His most recent chapbook ‘The Whiskey Stings Good Tonight & Suddenly the Page is Ablaze’ was published by the Alien Buddha Press in 2023.

ALL I MISS

I sit around thinking,
Missing,
So much that used to be
Fundamentals in this
Sad little life but which
The god-damn lockdown
Has shut!

I miss the library,
I miss the bookshops,
I miss the buzz & rush of life on the street
But most of all I miss the god-damn pub
And right now it seems
The entire country is on the verge
Of a massive nervous breakdown
& there is a feeling that for some
Things will never be quite the same again.

DREAMING OF A BUS RIDE TO NOWHERE

I dream of tomorrow and the chance that maybe,
Just maybe, I’ll walk into town & know from the
Moment I reach the end of Saint James’ that I’m
Bored of this rotten scene.  I’ll walk on to the
Pavilion & just get on a bus 
& go somewhere, anywhere, just to be away from here
& as the fresh air hits my face as I climb on down
At my destination I’ll know no one &
Expect nothing other than a blessed change of
Scenery & a day away from here.

MY RADIO DISTRACTS ME UNTIL TOMORROW

As the radio switches to extra-time
My mind begins to wander from
This page & tonight, well tonight, is
Coming to its sad inevitable end
As the tension in the stadium filters
From my radio & into my space
But tonight I think I’ll just shut this
Down, switch the radio off, smoke
A really strong one & get an early
Night so I can get back here tomorrow
& do it all over again.