About the Artist
Stephen Seabridge is a poet, artist and evaluator operating in the West Midlands, based in Stoke-on-Trent.
He served as Stoke-on-Trent’s first Poet Laureate from 2018 – 2021.
Stephen has been commissioned a number of times by SOT City Council, including collaborations with the British Ceramics Biennial, Appetite and 14-18. Now, as well as being a regular contributor to DUST Rising.
Stephen is also a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at Keele University.
Concerning writing, he is interested in how Stoke-on-Trent and communities similar are written about, depicted and thought of.
Concerning his artwork, he focuses on the accessibility of the arts and creativity, participation and idea of ‘bad ‘art’.
Twitter: @S_Seabridge
Old World
by Stephen Seabridge
Before, a man creeped down the dark path to the cinema screen, balancing popcorn on the arm of a chair as he pulled down the seat, all eyes on him,
while, outside in the coffee shop, two women drank lattes in the wingbacks, watching the car park and the crows, chatting about the noise of the kids
filling up the benches on the green out the window, their footballs bouncing along the grass, the tarmac, once on the roof of a Land Rover,
as, in the shopping centre, a table of fifteen ordered spicy chicken, Caesar salad, mocktails and jugs of water with ice, touching hands and laughing and eye-rolling.
Before, a grandma and her grandkids sat by the lake, noticed its green water while they crumbled old, white bread for the ducks, watched it float over, close to the fisherman
slumped in his plastic fold-up, remembering his frothy beer in the club the night before as he sat and listened to that week’s tribute band, the floor shaking with drums,
his son next door at the Theatre, watching Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat, the stage lit up and loud, the audience cast in shades of red and pink and blue.
Now, every other seat is empty. Now, every seat is empty. Dust on leather, benches gone green, empty pews, quiet buses, chairs stacked at the back of the hall, the lights off.
