Having attended How Near is Here and being toured round the stadium by Mitch Miller
“You might think this is a dead place
“You might think this is a dead place
if you come here at the wrong time
lots of people are clinging to
this structure.” There is still a little
bounce in the athletics track
but it is old, and it gets wet
and the bounce is starting to go.
Arthur’s seat channels a wind in.
Which make’s it hard to make it down
the finishing straight. Iron posts
have been being filed away
for thirty years “Write that down now”
Be careful of the concourse - it
has acoustics. Its acoustics
(You might think, one hundred metres
would mean you could be candid)
are a whispering gallery.
I can always tell when your ears
are pricking up. Hear the heart
of the stadium, beating in
of the stadium, beating in
the office behind breeze block walls.
We catch a glimpse of a reading
group laid flat out on judo mats.
We have to break for coffee now
we can’t stay in the boxing room
leaving behind the punching bags
for the corridors and stair wells.
The old Meadowbank Speedway track
the death there in 1964.