Thin Riddle
After the scrabble to the top,
the scrape of hooves
escaping over the cobbles
soaks into stone
and a cloak evaporates
from under a gaslamp.
Engines roll overhead.
A Roman, or maybe Norman
sentry watches on the wall
while, in no time at all
a boy in a flatcap
strikes a match against its ruins.
Spray-paint on masonry.
Stroll back to the bottom
where hen-dos huddle
in the same strange archways
as sea-weary sailors
and the neon kebab-light
illuminates a glossy top hat.
A city riddled with cracks,
spaces to slip between,
where history lurks
with the homeless under railway arches,
the way the pubs sit
in shadows of bridges. Metal rails
press down from above, squeezing
past against the present.
A quick skip through time,
a dog-leap. Look up and imagine
some adventurous terrier
daring the gap between windows.
Except this is a spot
where the crack has outlasted
the rock, a thin riddle running
through the foundation of the town
from quay to castle keep.
Peter Hebden is a poet and prose writer from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. He now lives in Newcastle upon Tyne after completing an MA in Creative Writing at Newcastle University. In the past he has worked with various artists and organisations to produce publications, installations and digital projects around poetry and creative writing.