Ever Onwards

African plains: and a gazelle foal running
       flat-out through grassland and river.
             Or swallows: recently fledged, soaring
      over sea and mountain, contending with
             tempest, hawk and marksman.

Townscape now and a man who will always get by:
      straight from school to the pit on a boy's wage;
            on to the buildings when it closed; the mill;
      then motor mechanic helping the boss
             at night with those well-paid 'specials'.

Now at the wheel of a truck he's hungry, lost,
      peering through rain on his first assignment,
            staring into the dark and the dazzling
      oncoming lights. But as he likes to say
             there's nothing that he can't do; nothing.  

John Looker lives in southern England. His collection, The Human Hive, was published by Bennison Books, via Amazon, and was selected by the Poetry Library for the UK's national collection. His poems have appeared in print and online journals and in anthologies. The Poetry from John Looker website is at https://johnstevensjs.wordpress.com