Cooke’s Pie & Mash Shop

Empty except for the lasting ache from a laughing fit
filling out the rooms seeping into the market.
Empty except the cackle of aunties who resonate still
through generations past
and are remembered in those to come.

Empty except the
record silent breaths
held in anticipation
awaiting reaction from the newbie who’s never tried the salty liquor, green with greener specks mingled with brown gravy good for all ailments a signature taste of times slipping from our grasp.

Empty except our history,
a mystery to those who clamber through
crushing communities and pushing out the past.

But this is my present.
Empty except the memories
Memories which cannot be gentrified
Memories which cannot be priced out of town.

My memories can be quantified in cups of tea,
and meat pies filled perfectly, slumped against
a mountain of mash, coated in liquor
cockney fuel with lumps and all.

Jonella Vidal is a 30-year-old poet from Hackney. A bi-racial woman, she was raised within the cultures of the West Indies and Cockney East Enders, with further influence from others in the highly diverse East London communities. Having studied English Lit & Creative Writing at Warwick University, she continues to explore writing in new ambitious ways. Moving from spoken word open mic stages to monologue-heavy script-writing, she constantly seeks different writing outlets to express all that dwells within. Between writing and her work in marketing, Jonella loves playing with dogs, dancing to indie music, and attending West End musicals.