Paul Francis
Silent Movie; Sherlock Jr (1924)
That magic in the dark.
I watch young Buster struggle and I’m back,
a teenager again, lovestruck and dumb
not knowing what to say.
I am this young projectionist
who can’t compete. The bigger, stronger spiv
will swindle him and get the girl.
We compensate with fantasy.
He’s a detective, tracking clues
to solve the mystery: who stole the pearls?
Projects himself into the screen
and shifts from set to set without a blink
through scrubland, desert, sea and snow.
Bewildered, he still steers a route
between onrushing cars.
His face seems not to register
the threats that he survives:
descending axes, poisoned drink,
exploding snooker balls…
Wake up. He’s back in the projection booth
but she is there and wanting him
and if he imitates the stars on screen
he might learn how to kiss.
A happy ending? How’s he managed that?
I want to talk with Buster, ask him how
he moulds my heart like clay.
What is his secret?
He can’t say.
Paul Francis is a retired teacher, living in Much Wenlock, who has been a member of Bridgnorth Writers’ Group since 1998.
He’s a versatile writer who’s written plays, an autobiography and a novel, but who now mainly concentrates on poetry. He writes in a variety of forms, some of them regular, and ranges widely in length, tone and subject matter – including political satire.
He’s won three national competitions, and was placed in the top three of the Guernsey On the Move competition in 2010, 2014 and 2015. In 2020 his poem 'Short-term Investment' came second (out of 2,300 entries) in the Beyond the Storm poetry competition, in support of the NHS.
Over the last twenty years he has published a range of occasional pamphlets at the rate of one a year, the most recent of which was Hard Labour 2024. He also has four full-length collections, including Sonnets with Notes (Liberty Books, 2019) and Rescue from the Dark (Fair Acre Press, 2021).
In 2024 he won the Enfield Poetry competition, from over a thousand entries. He was commended in the Ver competition in 2024, and highly commended in the Verve competition in 2025.
