{"id":802,"date":"2014-01-30T09:32:38","date_gmt":"2014-01-30T09:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johndavies.org\/wp\/2014\/01\/30\/not-feeling-100-per-cent-scouse\/"},"modified":"2014-01-30T09:32:38","modified_gmt":"2014-01-30T09:32:38","slug":"not-feeling-100-per-cent-scouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johndavies.org\/wp\/2014\/01\/30\/not-feeling-100-per-cent-scouse\/","title":{"rendered":"(Not feeling) 100 per cent Scouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to The Echo, having just completed their online test<\/a>, I am 100 per cent Scouse. This is heartening, in many ways, because it tells me that despite all the wanderings in my life, I will always have this place which roots and grounds me. But when I took The Echo's Scouseometer Challenge<\/em> I had to guess at a couple of answers (eg, I've never been called, or thought to call anyone a 'lid', but I guessed it meant 'mate') and felt a bit wobbly in parts, because I really don't feel 100 per cent Scouse these days. To the extent that in my latest bookshelf-purge-before-house-removal I've bundled up a large collection of books on Liverpool's history and culture* – it's time now to immerse myself in Somerset life and lore.<\/p>\n

I'm also working on a possible book collecting together my writings from over the years, and in the process I've uncovered this one, which is perhaps too Scouse<\/em> to make it into a publication aimed at a general readership – but for the initiated, here's my Liverpool Poem (my entry into the Liverpool Poem 800<\/a> competition in 2007, first blogged here<\/a> and revised slightly today)….<\/p>\n

If I were to write a Liverpool poem<\/p>\n

It would have to contain the compulsory
word play
flipping syllables
juggling syntax
being wittily ironic.
It would probably pay homage to the city fathers:
Drummond, McCulloch, Cope
And the city mothers:
Kitty, Casey, Simey.
It might reference a famous saying by John Lennon:
\u201cGerrard's a concept <\/em>
by which we measure our pain\u201d<\/em>
or do something involving Batman appearing on Canning Place
dressed like Adrian Henri.<\/p>\n

If I were to write a Liverpool poem
It would celebrate the excellence 
of our two great football teams:
Everton and Marine.
It would stand on Crosby beach with those metal men staring out to Wales;
It would stand on Upper Park Street mourning the demise of the lovely Welsh streets;
It would repent of something
Then do it again.<\/p>\n

If I were to write a Liverpool poem
I wouldn\u2019t do it now.
I\u2019d have to do it in the sixties
when I could take it to a Happening
and let it happen,
Or in the eighties
whilst seated at a table at the Armadillo
as a pained Erics punk
on my lunch hour.<\/p>\n

If I were to write a Liverpool poem
I wouldn\u2019t publish it, of course:
I\u2019d have to perform it
whilst standing on a node of esoteric power
(Not the manhole on Mathew Street, that\u2019s been overdone: Everton Brow's my preference)
Or seated on the original Superlambanana
Wherever that is now.<\/p>\n

If I were to write a Liverpool poem
It wouldn\u2019t be over sentimental
And it wouldn\u2019t have many regrets.<\/p>\n

*This collection is now for sale on the secondhand shelves of News from Nowhere<\/a>. I'm selling other titles through My Amazon Storefront<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to The Echo, having just completed their online test, I am 100 per cent Scouse. This is heartening, in many ways, because it tells me that despite all the wanderings in my life, I will always have this place which roots and grounds me. But when I took The Echo's Scouseometer Challenge I had … Continue reading “(Not feeling) 100 per cent Scouse”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-talks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johndavies.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johndavies.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johndavies.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johndavies.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johndavies.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/johndavies.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johndavies.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johndavies.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johndavies.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}