‘A Town Without a River’ by Peter Donnelly

Once a politician thought it had a beach,
perhaps because their conference was there,
in old times a watering place.

You can still bathe at the Turkish Baths,
see ducks in the pond in the Valley Gardens,
hear the ripple of tiny waterfalls

along the Elgar walk. No longer may you
drink water at the Pump Room
that tastes as salty as the sea, to be polite.

I’d like to have asked them the name of the river
they thought ran through the town, or if they
spelt it Harrowgate. Good questions for an MP.

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Meet the Poet!

Peter J Donnelly lives in York where he works as a hospital secretary.  He has a degree in English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Wales, Lampeter. His poetry has been published in various magazines and anthologies including Dreich, Black Nore Review,  High Window,  Southlight and Lothlorien. He was awarded second prize in the Ripon Poetry Festival Competition in 2021 and was a joint runner up in the Buzzwords Open Poetry Competition in 2020.