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The Harrisons
By Talisker
04 December 2006
The Harrisons was the name of the housing scheme in which I was dragged up.

Here I spent my molten years,
from toddling two to timid ten,
I roamed these ho-hum streets.

Amongst these dreary living blocks,
that serve the poor for sleeping in,
and crystalise our place in life,
my little mind was bent and shaped
and left to set.

Who named these lanes for lochs and hills?
What well meaning, sardonic mind thought
-yes I see the beauty here of wild Rannoch's
moors and peaks, let's call this vision
Loch Earn Way, to make the people proud?

No playgrounds here, no slides, no swings,
just dwelling boxes shoe-horned in,
cheek by jowl, like battery hens.

So many pots for bonsai minds,
to trim their roots, keep them small,
miniaturise their ambitions.

Forty painful years have passed,
yet part of me lingers here.


Oli 4/12/06

Reviews

Written by Witzl (1585 comments posted) 4th December 2006
Oli, this poem is quite amazing -- every single bit of it. There is not a stanza here that leaves me cold. Your second-to-last stanza in particular is stunning. 'So many pots for bonsai minds' is just superb. I'll have to stop before I run out of adjectives.  
 
And quite apart from that, you've just mirrored something that I am now writing -- 'The Highlands' is where I grew up. Right in the hottest, most polluted, miserable part of the Inland Empire, for pity's sake, and they went and named it 'the Highlands.'  
 

Written by Phil (6387 comments posted) 4th December 2006
Loved this Oli. I'm with Witzl; this is wonderful from the first word to the last. It has such a fantastic pulse/cadence. 
 
Can't pick a favourite verse - all great. 
 
I've possibly said this before - or something like it - sometimes you read something that suits your own ear, your own thought patterns - and it resonates. Well, this is it for me Oli. My favourite poem on the site. 
 
Thanks for the read. 
 
All the best, 
 
Phil.

Written by Phil (6387 comments posted) 4th December 2006
Sorry, just come back to reread. Couldn't resist. Still fantastic. 
 
Phil. 
 

Written by ellipinnock (1753 comments posted) 4th December 2006
I loved this Oli. Quite simply fantastic 
 
Elli

Written by Witzl (1585 comments posted) 14th December 2006
I'm back again re-reading this too. Damn, I'm envious.

Written by Glossa (18 comments posted) 15th March 2007
I selected this to read because this is my first time logged in and I saw you were online too. What a treat! It's rich and spare at the same time. I'm going to think about "bonsai minds" a bit more and read this again. Thank you.

Written by Kathy (220 comments posted) 16th March 2007
Yes, it's very tightly packed with comment but in a seemingly 'simple' form. I really admire it. Another to learn from. 
Kathy

Written by madeupname (18 comments posted) 25th May 2007
I think your mind must have escaped the bonsai pot!

Written by Pythagoras (11 comments posted) 26th May 2007
Really loved this poem, I'm going to look for another one of yours right now! 
 
Jan
The Harrisons
Written by sahewitt (17 comments posted) 11th March 2008
Came here to see what all the fuss was about. I found it! Splendid work! Said before but bears repeating 
"So many pots for bonsai minds" Wonderfully put! Write on, Oli

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