The painting “The Bard”

by Thomas Jones

his commemoration

of the suppression

of the poets of his nation

on the orders of the English king

the fan who calls for a statue

of the vocalist Tom Jones

to be erected in his birth town

footsteps on a beach

fossilised

a family that took a walk

so very many families

before ours

their routes

their journeys

those hands held

a portrait of my great grandfather

youthful diffidence

nearly handsome

on the cusp of a confidence

robbed by

a dishonest business partner

returning to his impoverished county

penniless and

changed forever

this country of scribblers

of walkers

builders

painters

and singers in stone

these pictures of us