by Charlotte Carter

Some may say that home is where the heart is
or a cliché along those lines.
I have yet to decide where mine resides
within the North-South divide.

There are times when I yearn for
rolling hills and dry stone walls,
open space,
shoes encrusted with mud, lost hours in the moors
and a friendly morning cheer.
Somewhere you can take one deep breath of the biting air
and feel all your worries
disappear.

I traded this in a long time ago
for a concrete jungle, the big smoke.
Full of endless opportunities, constant stimulation,
crippling rent prices,
light pollution
and a vibrancy I have never experienced before.

Belonging in neither camp, rejected by both.
Do you have a ‘barth’? – they may say.
Is it time for ‘tea’ or ‘dinner’?
Off t’pub lass?
Some may say that ‘home is where the heart is’
or a ‘man who is tired of London is
tired of life’
or ‘Yorkshire born and
Yorkshire bred’.

But I say…?


Charlotte Carter | @charlottieee1

Charlotte Carter is a 26-year-old primary school teacher, hailing originally from Sheffield and currently residing in South East London. She likes cats, flowers and being outside. Teaching little people how to write creatively has inspired her to start drafting her own poems, mainly about identity.

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