JOHN HEGLEY IMAGE CREDIT: Polly Hancock.
John Hegley’s poem ‘The Unattended Toothbrush’ was written after a visit to Priory School, Fawcett Road. It was published in the fabulous collection, This Island City: Portsmouth in Poetry, (p. 26) and is reproduced here by the kind permission of the author.
The Unattended Toothbrush
In Fratton I am to present poems in the school of a teacher called Bjorn. As he and I cross the busy, buzzy morning break-time throng, I look downwards and there it is: long and blue and wrong. ‘That’s odd’. I nod backwards, but Bjorn is elsewhere and beyond the truth of the toothbrush.
Later in the morning, bashing out my schoolhall verses, I suddenly want to know, ‘so did anyone see the toothbrush in the playground today?’ A solitary hand makes its way tiredly upwards. The owner is surprised to look around and understand himself to be the only other witness to the misplaced lavatorial accoutrement. We have unexpectedly bonded.
Who saw the blue toothbrush – only him and John did. I sense my younger self beneath – apart from all the others, and with dirtier teeth.
John Hegley (b. 1 Oct. 1953) has for some time been one of Britain’s best-loved poets, and his verse ‘Malcolm’ was voted Britain’s second favourite poem in a 1998 BBC survey. His work is highly performative, encompassing verse and music (he plays the mandolin and is often accompanied by a double bassist) and he encourages audience participation in his vibrant shows. His work spans personal, social, and political themes and is regularly comic, surreal, irreverent, and moving by turns. Dogs, glasses, potatoes, and a Luton childhood are recurring features of his writing. His first poetry collection, Visions of the Bone Idol (Poems about Dogs and Glasses) appeared in 1984 and his latest is I am a Poetato: An A-Z of poems about people, pets and other creatures. Others include Can I Come Down Now, Dad (1991), Love Cuts (1995), The Sound of Paint Drying (2003), and The Adventures of Monsier Robinet (2009). His career began in 1980 with Comedy Store gigs and he became well-known as a performer as a result of his appearances on Carrott’s Lib and the John Peel Show in the early 1980s, which were released as the double A sided single ‘Spare Pear/Mobile Home’ in 1984. A range of his work has been released as recordings. He went on to present the TV series Word of Mouth in the 1990s and Hearing with Hegley (1996–9), as well as appearing regularly on Wogan and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He also starred in Simon Callow’s West End production of The Pajama Game in 1999. He is an Edinburgh Fringe regular and has written comedy for Radio 4. He is an advocate for awareness of mental health, pioneering the project Warning: May Contain Nuts.
Born in Islington and raised as a Roman Catholic, Hegley moved to Luton in his early childhood, and then Bristol. After working as a bus conductor and a civil servant, he studied European Literature, the History of Ideas, and Sociology at the University of Bradford. Claiming to be descended from the composer Jean-Phillipe Rameau and having a paternal grandmother who danced with the Folies Bergère, Hegley’s French ancestry is important to him and is a regular feature of his work.
If you have any comments, corrections, or suggestions in relation to the map please contact Dr Mark Frost, English Department, University of Portsmouth: mark.frost@port.ac.uk