'Pale Ails' and 'Foxes'
Updated: Jun 8
By Ben Harding
Foxes
In the lukewarm streetlight, foxes—
one then two, now four,
eight eyes like the Dipper stare
a soul into my side.
Ask for change I do not
carry, and nose the plastic
—rinsed for reuse—that
spills out from blue bins.
Ribs flex under spoilt hides
as they slink, a limp for one,
dog-eared ear another.
Those lights tilt, snuff, I hear
a punctured liner rustle.
It was too heavy a charge, anyhow.
Pale Ails
Amidst the pale ale drinkers. Fresh-shaven
p’haps, fresh-faced, still I drink Landlord just the same.
I’ve identity here, and half my savings
behind the bar, and the landlord knows my name
and when a local boy asks it, I du-
tifully provide, yet still always rehearsed
at me: ’s strange name for someone like you.
I wonder if Hirshal’d be better or worse,
and know that when I once again appear
with my home-county cortege all in tow,
no matter how often we all frequent,
it’s I who’ll draw the lingering, heavy leer.
Played cricket with a Hirshal—left-arm slow—
‘Herfan’, the coach would call him, which now I resent.
BEN HARDING hocked it about a hundred times but always got it back.
Art by Stacey Gledhill
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The layered textures you describe in Pale Ails and Foxes are exactly the kind of thing worth isolating. If you ever want to hear those buried harmonies on their own, a vocal remover online can split a track into stems in about a minute, which is handy for studying how the mix was built.
The pairing of these two poems creates a striking contrast between urban unease and questions of identity. The fox imagery feels vivid and haunting, while the second poem brings a personal sense of belonging and memory.I also found https://bcbug.com/ interesting for similar thoughtful perspectives.Overall, this was a memorable and quietly powerful read that stayed with me.
The discussion of pale ales and foxes brings together some wonderfully unexpected details in an engaging way. I appreciated the thoughtful observations and the way the subject was presented without becoming overly complicated. I recently came across https://skyviewlaw.com/ while reading another review blog, and it offered an interesting perspective as well. This made for a genuinely enjoyable read.