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On National Poetry Day on 9th October 2003, lines were added to the poem Cento, by Roger McGough and there was a maiden reading of The Great Experience by Sheila Simmons:
"The view of Durham Cathedral as one approaches the City on the railway is one of the great experience of Europe" Pevsner
Oh
there is too much of you
for me to
throw
my arms about you
my dear old friend,
and, my face one big grin,
to gather you in
just as the river's bend
clips your tall walls.
I've taken a tally
of each of those cobbled
alleys.
They still fall (or hobble!)
head over heels down to the river
and into the town.
And look!
Here's Palace Green
un harmed by time,
Cathedral clock's
chime
still echoing over
all its daisies,
and lazy lovers still sprawled
on its grass.
Castle
I'm full of elation
at the sight
of your stumpy shape,
your crenellations
so fetchingly lit up at night.
And my feet danced
on that narrow path by the river
where the skiffs
arrow
like long strips
of light
and the sculls lift
and driό
and reflections shiver.
But
as ever, your crown
is the great Cathedral's pile.
I'll
confess that when I entered your
west door
and I saw
those sturdy stone pillars
rising up from the floor
it was like greeting
a very old
and very dear
friend
meeting after years:
and I wasn't ashamed
of my teats
Sheila Simmons © 2003
Cento by Roger McGough
Helsinki.
Jubilee Rd, up by the canal.
Grandma McGough alone. Seven sons
and a daughter flown. Frost on the aspidistra.
Naples.
Alder street, down by the docks.
Grandma McGarry, knees up for a full house.
Giggles and Irish jigs. Lino dancing.
Growing up in Liverpool, this was my geography.
My North, my South, I sailed between the two.
Since then I've traveled the world and found
that everything I learnt, I already knew.
The following lines were added by Cate Williams:
Patches, parks, fields and hollows
Verdant green in Sun
and dripping
Pools reflecting life and labour
Moonlit castles slumber greyly
History's tales untold; hold fast
watching
waiting
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