A prophetic post coronavirus poem.....

[barbelman]

This is a poem written by Hazel Hutchinson for a Hull Heritage Open Days 2013 poetry competition about the demise of the last BB table going from the Minerva Hotel in Hull which boasted no less than three bar billiards tables at one time.

Occasionally and at times like this, it's worth revisiting. (and it's probably the only poem written about Bar Billiards for some reason!)

Just a Bagatelle

To some it's just a bagatelle
But this small piece of the past
Was once in Hull's Minerva Hotel,
And it was the very last.

The last bar billiards table
Has its own room in the bar.
Let's remember it while we are able,
For it's gone...like a fallen star.

All games have their ups and downs -
You have to carry on.
Sometimes you win and then you find
That everything has gone

You think there's lots of time to go,
But when at last you hear
The dropping of the bar, you know
The End is drawing near. 

There's always that faint chance you'll win
Although your aim is poor - 
They might just knock the mushroom in
And wipe away their score.

And they will find out to their cost 
(Though you are quite relieved) 
That our most treasured things, when lost,
May never be retrieved. 

To some it's just a bagatelle 
But this small piece of the past
Was once in Hull's Minerva Hotel,
And it was the very last. 

© Hazel Hutchinson 2013