Nicholas Hogg
The wasted year in dead end jobs. Carving up roads
or selling glass. Heros with giros, when the work dried up,
and the dope you bought to deal was crap. The best gig I had
was a week in Hull, pointing up bricks on a factory wall.
Grinding out mortar in the pouring rain. Ridiculous, dousing
sheets of rain. Rain off the roof like a river in flood.
But the canteen served spotted dick and custard, and the boss
bought pudding. Cash in hand, too, so the bastard bank
could keep on begging. Like the bloke at the door with a hammer.
He wanted money, like we all did. Passing on a debt down the line.
Nicholas Hogg is the author of A Sacrifice, now a Ridley Scott film starring Eric Bana and Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink. In 2021 he won the Gregory O’Donoghue Poetry Prize, and in 2023 the Liverpool Poetry Prize. Missing Person, his debut collection, is published by Broken Sleep Books.
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