{"id":3685,"date":"2018-06-01T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2018-06-01T09:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/translatingpain\/?p=3685"},"modified":"2018-06-01T09:00:15","modified_gmt":"2018-06-01T09:00:15","slug":"the-grinder-by-alan-horne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/a-bel-abroad\/the-grinder-by-alan-horne\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Grinder’, by Alan Horne"},"content":{"rendered":"

We pay the cable from the reel in staggers,\u00a0<\/span>
\njerk the squiggly line between the bushes,<\/span>
\nwake the minor aches, the none too vicious\u00a0<\/span>
\ngraters in the knee that love to grab us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing lightweight in the gear for this one:<\/span>
\nthe Black and Decker like a struggling toddler;\u00a0<\/span>
\nthe squeaky derricks of our legs manoeuvred<\/span>
\nround the pain to give the tools a platform.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though it\u2019s money saved; and while the gripe\u2019s curtailed\u00a0<\/span>
\nwe crouch to proud, redundant, bent old nails\u00a0<\/span>
\nwhich squeal against the grinder, scattering in the nettles\u00a0<\/span>
\ntiny marigolds of blistered metal\u00a0<\/span>
\nuntil the shanks resign, the flat heads flying.\u00a0<\/span>
\nBut how to rise, from those smoking stumps of iron?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n