"Piggy in the Middle"

An illustrated collection of poems by Nottingham Policeman Tony Breeze

 ISBN 1-872758-00-2

We all write poetry at some time in our lives.  Mine was a way of coping with the depression  of working among the drunks and homeless on night and day shifts as a uniformed police sergeant in a busy UK conurbation with no apparent hope of escape.

 “Nottingham, famous for lace and Robin Hood, has another face

Less romantic, pretty or good, a pity more don’t see

And would you like to come with me among the late night revelers?

At ten o’clock the Friday journey starts

And Friday hearts beat fast beneath blue serge at the Central Police Parade Room;

The noise of smoking, joking men subsides at the arrival of the Inspector

And numbers are called, not names, the game is on, fixed points allocated

For men to stand and hands reach out for life-preserving radios;

So on with policeman’s hat and coat and walk with me

Along a darkened corridor that leads to fluorescent night …”

 (The above is part of a longer poem about night shift in Nottingham)