A Dickensian Ghost in a Modern Liverpool Christmas

A new poem offers a melancholy December vision of Liverpool. "Down on the canal on Christmas Day" by Chris McCabe blends warm realism with a ghostly encounter. The speaker meets a man emerging from the "water-light" of a canal. The man is compared to Bob Cratchit, a poor but kind clerk from Charles Dickens's *A Christmas Carol*. He is "Cratchit-wrapped" and greets the speaker by name. This "ghost" appears in a harsh, modern landscape. The setting features a "metallic staircase" and a "long blasted path." A stark image of a dead rat wearing a "purple crinoline Christmas hat" adds to the scene. Yet the man's joyful smile stays with the speaker. It becomes a haunting and positive memory within the "time-ripped" industrial surroundings. Read the full poem online.