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Your support makes all the difference. Read more The Reading Festival
(with apologies to Edward
Thomas)
Yes I remember Reading
The festival, because one year
Of some excess, I threw up there
Unwantedly. It was the beer.
The rain poured. Someone lost a
goat.
John Peel came and took the stage
Soaked in lager, dodging cans
But safely now inside a cage.
And weirdos, wallies, nurds - all
drunk
With cider, medium-sweet and
dry
No whit less ill and only there
With polythene to keep them dry.
And for that day Black Sabbath
played
Close by and watched by men in
Leather jackets, soiled shirts
And acres of patched denim.
(PS - You'll never find Chris Bonington
At Castle Donington
But you may find Chris Spedding
At Reading)
Martin Newell's latest book, 'Under Milk Float', is available from Essex University Literature Dept, Colchester, Essex CO4 3SQ. Price pounds 4, cheques payable to The Essex Festival.
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