On the horizon

On the horizon

church tower and radio mast

spiring to heavens and beyond,

needles that scarcely scratch the sky.

The view from here

The view from here

I Fog

Newcastle has gone,

and Gateshead. A fragment of Tyne

locked like an anchor in mud

a few blue-grey roofs some

street lights and steep houses

chain it to me and separate us,

buses form themselves from air,

vanish to nowhere; memory

is myth.

II Lucid

It rained overnight. Black ashphalt

sparkles with pleasure at being

walked upon, wild buses play tag

to their destinations always

leaving because they've arrived.

I can see distant green-brown

bounding hills streaked with houses

and imagine tiny people

imagining us.

III Nocturne

Brighter at night against the dark

the wealth and lunacy of the city

reflected on the surface

of the empty river, still

great crack, laughter, an argument

with my face in Fenwick's window

till, by uneven steps, I miss

the final metro home; home

is fiction.

IV Sight

We are as ants and less than ants

scrawling our sentences like

scent trails over dust

each I a monarch

in its own domain;

quod scripsi, fecit.

Cadenza

Cadenza

hunt
          feast and famine

farm
          ridge and furrow
          the long cycle

books
          labyrinths

internet
          infinite
          centre-less maze

song
          blood, seed, hope, lost

Between

Crossing the Millennium

Bridge suspended from

twin cities separate inseparable

we pause

               an unreliable

unrecreatable childhood

memory recurs stepping

plank to plank along Ryde pier

neither sea nor land and

watching the turbulent

threatening water beneath

disturbed

                a cormorant

settles on a floating boom

an artificial island in the Tyne

she and I momentarily

fixed for ever above

between  

  © Copyright Chris Downer and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Borders

The boundary's
moved through the years
north south, south north -
people, sheep don't
care: guards, thieves look
much the same by
any compass -
but at night the
lights destroy peace.

When no-one looks
borders vanish.

Thanks to all supporters - more needed

There is another article in the Newcastle Chronicle today about Leonie and Stacey.

Leonie said she was lured into coming to the UK in 2008 with promises of a better life. But when she arrived, the 29-year-old said she was forced into prostitution.

The UK Border Agency and Immigration Tribunals turned down her application to stay in the UK. Now we are campaigning to ask the Home Secretary to use her discretionary powers to allow Leonie to remain.

The response to the campaign has been wonderful:

Campaign organiser Chris Carroll, from the Brunswick Methodist Church in Newcastle city centre, said: “The response has been fantastic.

“We’ve just posted another 100 letters to the Home Secretary to ask her for compassion with more being sent every day.

If you would also like to help letters and petition forms are available here.

Thank you.

Hundreds back asylum seeker to stay on Tyneside

Leonie and Stacey in their flat

Under the headline Hundreds back asylum seeker to stay on Tyneside the local paper, the Evening Chronicle, had a full page feature on Leonie and Stacey and their fight to stay in the UK.  Lots of petition forms and a good number of letter have already been sent.

From the article:

The 29-year-old was fleeing her African homeland when she was lured into coming to the UK in January 2008 with promises of a better life.

But when she arrived penniless and unable to speak English, she says she was forced into prostitution, locked up and raped repeatedly.

Smuggled into the country on a false passport, Leonie says she was imprisoned and abused – her child being the result of one such incident.

After escaping, Leonie, from Cameroon, claimed asylum.

The claims she made were investigated by an immigration judge, who ruled against Leonie. However, her supporters on Tyneside, including specialist counselors, have backed her story.

If you have been one of those who have given your support, thank you very much. Please continue to pass on the information to anyone you know who might also be able to help.