My Beauty from the Hood


Together raised, born of the same street,
Destined to be Filton’s proudest,
You graduated whilst I was yet ten,
I watched your every move,
Beautiful, sleek, with angels’ wings,
Taking London, Paris and New York by storm,
Faster than the wind whistles,
Everyone loved you.

Tripping over yanky discarded junk,
Burning candle lit the De Gaul sky,
Crashed and burned in more ways than one,
My heart sank, my beauty from the hood now gone,
I will never admire your grace and lines again.

— Philip Wood