September’s Poem of the Month comes from Ciaran Berry’s forthcoming collection Liner Notes 
Top of the Pops
There was either a message in a bottle |
or a brown girl in the ring
when I squeezed my way between
Sister Áine and Sister Catherine
in the convent TV room.
Video may well have killed the radio star
but love was still in the air,
for so sang John Paul Young.
We didn’t know then what might
be read into our favourite
exponent of the wobble board
tying his kangaroo down,
or what the glitter man might really
have meant when he asked,
‘D’you wanna be in my gang?’
As far as those Sisters of Mercy
were concerned I was one
of their own, even if my father’s whereabouts
were unknown Sunday mornings,
even if I would pass up
the chance to carry in the myrrh
and frankincense. Taking
a few pointers from The Pointer Sisters
or a guy down the chip shop
we watched as the second
would-be Welsh Elvis went weak
at the knees. ‘I’ll Be Satisfied’
was up to number nineteen
the same week ‘I Don’t Wanna Dance’
leapt from thirty to eleven.
We were either sitting by the rivers
of Babylon or we were walking
on the moon when Sister Pius
adjusted the rabbit ears and the countdown
continued from ten to one.
from Liner Notes (October 2018)
by Ciaran Berry
