Most Read... John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Joshua WeinerAn Exchange with Daniel Tiffany/Fall 2020
(PN Review 259)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 62, Volume 14 Number 6, July - August 1988.

The Great Storm John Heath-Stubbs

At Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire,
A block of flats collapses;
A man is trapped in the rubble. Well, well, well -
And this was the place I spent my earlier years in!
The first time, I'll be bound,
It's ever got in the news.

The pier at Shanklin, Isle of Wight,
Likewise is destroyed - its amusement arcade.
This I remember too. If you inserted a penny
The gates of a prison-model swung open
To reveal the condemned cell - the victim prepared,
While the little puppet chaplain, in his white surplice,
Bobbed up and down, desperately praying;
There were film shows you could likewise work -
Rin Tin Tin, the benevolent and enlightened
Alsatian dog; and what the butler saw -
Which was mostly underclothes; a self-operated
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image