Back to the Past
Liverpool Waterfront
Back to the Past
30 June 2026
2026 Rewrite
First published by Spiderwize in Meanderings – An Anthology of Poetry and Prose Volume II
Back to the Past
Liverpool
2010-2011
I wish I could put the clock back
and right all the wrongs
that were said.
To walk again difficult routes
with hindsight's benefit,
To hold one's head up high,
Where before I ducked
below the parapet.
I wish I could put the clock back
and say the things
I want to say,
but courage I lacked
to do so.
Just a simple
'I love you.'
Just an innocent question,
'do you fancy a pint . . .
maybe even a date?'
To walk the cliffs
of Folkstone Heights again,
Peering down at the harbour below.
To turn the clock back
and reach out.
To take up that
which almost happened
but for an innocent intervention
that made the chance of
making love impossible,
yet which was not meant to be.
I wish I could put the clock back
and run down the Ashford
driveway in Kent.
No wait! I didn't mean it like that.
It's that my parents are visiting tomorrow
and ... well ... I feel awkward.
No matter. The moment lost forever.
I wish I could put the clock back
and fly that open cockpit Glider again,
Turn into wind
and bring her safely, smoothly in,
Threshing long grass
Across South Cerney airfield,
Thousands of grass seeds
in my eyes
and through free-blown hair,
An involuntary threshing.
Oh what joy to fly an open
cockpit again!
Basic instruments, nothing more
to bother myself with,
Altimeter, airspeed
and wind speed indicator.
How good it would be to
Once again to stand on Boot’s Corner
Shin length greatcoat,
Chin strap down
Cape on
Concealed hands in pockets
a summary crime!
Unless of course the Inspector drives!
In which case throw one up and smart about it!
To step the kerb edge
as the hearse drives by . . .
Salute with precision
in accordance with Force Orders,
Respectful pedestrians suddenly warmed
by the solidity of moment,
The endless chatter and laughs by eye contact alone
Merging back into the pavement, a gentle pace
But now departed…
a constabulary of a bygone age,
replaced by a service
that leaves most bemused
and all without respect;
seemingly, but actually, not,
indifferent to crime;
concentration on minutiae,
worship of the camera,
desire to be filmed,
selfies,
very swift rebuke
from the police of yester-year.
How would today be
without iPod or smartphone,
texts, tweets, EX and Instagram?
No Selfies!!
We cannot take the Luddite road.
Move with the times.
See the advances made
as for good of humankind
(oh alright to you in pews,
if you insist,
mankind!).
Past and Present equal Future.
So you who boast eighteen years of life . . .
An abundance of experience . . .
I dare you!
Peek
when coast is clear
history books on oldies’ shelves.
Revisit
Gran and Grandad’s time;
a richness of life, vitality and service
that has given
all that you now have.
A glimpse of what you
will give fifty years from now!
What’s that?
Will I look like that too?
Well, the genes are there for sure.
Yes, but they’re all in 1884??!!
Just like you do,
your little darling-offspring
will yawn at you.
Ian Bradley Marshall
All Rights Reserved
Liverpool
June 2026
© 2011 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Written in Liverpool 2010-2011
Meanderings : An Anthology of Poetry and Prose Volume II
(Hardback)
Published by Spiderwize in October 2011
September 1970 and the start of a great career. The banner image is of a Watercolour Stow-on-the-Wold in 1980-81, my last posting, when my police career ended due to the onset of seizures. KW
