Narcissus in Blackpool ~ Second Edition (2024)
Narcissus in Blackpool
A very early piece written in January 2010 while working in Blackpool, and published in Liverpool in January 2014
Image Courtesy of Dragi Ražnatović and from his Private Collection and to whom all rights thereto are reserved and to the Photographer
Persistent rain against
an old Edwardian window pane;
double glazing yet
to make its ugly imprint
upon a proud façade.
In the dying embers of the fire
He watched the rising and falling
of his Feline
The tiny heartbeat
Twitching a whisker
The barely audible purr. . . . . .
And next to her
A softened glow
A quiet warmth
Intimacy felt
Not feline
Man-line
Just cosy
A body narcissistic
Beautiful
Sublime.
Curtains drawn
Thick green French velvet drapes
Seal the cold air
seeping through
the sheet of glass,
A single pane,
Uneven…
Blown in a bygone age
When long dresses skirted pavements
Ladies walked inside and right of every man,
Caps were doffed
Hats were tapped
in greetings and friendly salutations,
The ladies dipped their heads gracefully in reply
Though… not always.
But that was then.
Narcissus then is now Methuselah.
And so it goes.
On this carpet
Flickering in the faltering flames
in a last minute resurgence of power
Narcissus stirs;
His eyes are deep and dark,
Very beautiful, pure,
Darker than wine
Matching the silky silvery black sheen
of his Feline companion,
His long Brazilian hair
Cascades his shoulders
A glimpse of the beauty,
A hint of the mountains,
Great Rivers
and Plains
of South America,
São Paulo, and, Yes,
Rio de Janeiro.
A Bygone Era.
Ian Bradley Marshall
Blackpool
January 2010
9 September 2024
All Rights Reserved
LIVERPOOL
© 2010 Ian Bradley Marshall © 2024 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Written in Blackpool in January 2010
First published 27 January 2014 in Liverpool
Republished 29 December 2021 and due to its popularity again on 6 June 2023
Dragan Ražnatović 2014 - to the author upon reading Narcissus in Blackpool
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
