In Competition No. 2784 you were invited to rewrite John Betjeman’s poem ‘Slough’, substituting the target of your choice.
The poet Ian McMillan sprang to Slough’s defence in 2005 with ‘Slough Re-visited’, an antidote to Betjeman’s jaundiced take on the town: ‘Come friendly words and splash on Slough!/ Celebrate it, here and now/ Describe it with a gasp, a “wow!”/ Of Sweet Berkshire breath’. But according to Betjeman’s daughter, Candida Lycett-Green, her father regretted having written the 1937 poem, a fact acknowledged by Frank Osen and several others besides. Mr Osen takes £30; the rest £25.
Although he lived to disavow
His wish that bombs might fall on Slough,
Soon bombs were raining, anyhow,
From Hull to Henley.
Would Betjeman have wanted moms
In Grozny, Vukovar or Homs
To read his plea for dropping bombs,
Albeit friendly?
No, he was more for conservation.
See how his statue, in elation,
Regards St Pancras’ preservation,
Pleased at its sprawling.
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