Kevin Michael Bloor

The Blazing Rag

The Blazing Rag’s a seedy inn

Go past each day; I’ve not been in

A motley crowd reclines inside

So I don’t saunter past; I stride!

 

Pub crawling home deep in the night

Pugnacious punters sometimes fight

Their voices echo in the dark

Punch holes in peace across the park

 

The Blazing Rag’s of ill repute

A viper’s nest; I don’t dispute

Yet trophies glitter midst the grime

Awards in frames from former time

 

When long before my beery birth

Men downed their merry mugs of mirth

And diced with dominoes and darts

Let beer bind up their broken hearts

 

My beer, I drink at home from cans

I let the tradesmen in white vans

Frequent that bar to stand and sup

From grimy glass or chip-kissed cup

 

But one day, I’ll pack poet’s bag

And brave that bar: The Blazing Rag

I’ll hail the barman: “draw me off

A pearly pint, to quickly quaff”

 

And maybe, if the pint does please

I’ll warm to them and feel at ease

‘Mong brother boozers built like me

Sad sailors on a stormy sea

 

All killing time with noble ale

Inside the body of this whale

A hundred million miles from home

Beneath a dark, despotic dome

 

Where I feel now the poet’s call

To share my liquored lines with all

Perhaps perform while pints they nurse

To entertain them with my verse!

 

But maybe that’s for future times

When Blazing Rag feels need of rhymes

For now, I’ll sit with them and sup

And watch the Twenty First World Cup!