{"id":11272,"date":"2020-06-04T15:31:03","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T14:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272"},"modified":"2020-07-28T16:02:46","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T15:02:46","slug":"without-us-by-meena-sears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272","title":{"rendered":"Without Us<\/em>, by Meena Sears"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Without Us<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The shiny wooden floor is unusually clean for a Tuesday afternoon.
\nNo dropped broccoli nor puddles of custard decorate its surface.
\nAll the folding tables are lined up along the edges of the room
\nLike soldiers in the trenches waiting for the command.<\/p>\n

Outside the only whistle to be heard is that of the wind as it rocks
\nA childless swing higher, higher, higher\u2026 Nobody
\nSwarms the dusty climbing frame nor stomps across its bridge to escape
\nThe fire; it is like a tree with no leaves or a book with no words.<\/p>\n

Across the road, in the park, a lone jogger swerves around
\nA man and his dog, repelled by their magnetic field.
\nThe benches that border the concrete paths unwelcome you
\nWith red and white striped tape stretched between their arms.<\/p>\n

The market is an empty tunnel of metallic shutters;
\nYou cannot hear the hum of money-spenders
\nEnticed by curries infused with cumin, beneath the eager barks
\nOf market-sellers jumping up and down to fight the cold.<\/p>\n

And beneath this tunnel lie those famous London tunnels that shriek
\nForever as bullet-shaped people-carriers shoot through them.
\nOnly now their shrieks have been quietened to an occasional shout;
\nDrained of all energy they are slowly giving up hope of being heard.<\/p>\n

Over the Channel, that framed enchantress, seemingly unobtrusive
\nYet impossible to ignore, awaits the attention she has become accustomed to.
\nShe feigns nonchalance as no eyes meet her gaze,
\nMaintains poise, but no pencil, phone or lens is raised.<\/p>\n

In Rome you can hear, for the first time in centuries, the trumpet of the conch
\nAt Trevi Fountain. No longer must it compete with the splashing
\nOf wished-upon coins or the struggle of a hundred guides.
\nAnd you can hear the carpet of water as it slips from beneath the feet of Oceanus.<\/p>\n

Further East the white tiles of the Grand Mosque shine brighter than ever,
\nLike an ice-rink in summer, and, like an ice-rink in summer,
\nChilled only by the absence of body heat,
\nIt waits for the turn of the season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Meena Sears (L1)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Without Us The shiny wooden floor is unusually clean for a Tuesday afternoon. No dropped broccoli nor puddles of custard decorate its surface. All the folding tables are lined up along the edges of the room Like soldiers in the trenches waiting for the command. Outside the only whistle to be heard is that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[400],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nWithout Us, by Meena Sears - The Manchester Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Without Us, by Meena Sears - The Manchester Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Without Us The shiny wooden floor is unusually clean for a Tuesday afternoon. No dropped broccoli nor puddles of custard decorate its surface. All the folding tables are lined up along the edges of the room Like soldiers in the trenches waiting for the command. Outside the only whistle to be heard is that […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Manchester Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-04T14:31:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-28T15:02:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Manchester Review\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Manchester Review\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272\",\"name\":\"Without Us, by Meena Sears - The Manchester Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-04T14:31:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-28T15:02:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/e6deb0374609919f6e86f6ee1defe8cc\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Without Us, by Meena Sears\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Manchester Review\",\"description\":\"The Manchester Review\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/e6deb0374609919f6e86f6ee1defe8cc\",\"name\":\"The Manchester Review\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif\",\"caption\":\"The Manchester Review\"},\"description\":\"The Manchester Review was founded in 2008 and is published by the Centre for New Writing at The University of Manchester. We aspire to bring together online, without a paper edition, the best of international writing from well-known, established writers alongside new, relatively unknown poets and prose-writers.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?author=45\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Without Us, by Meena Sears - The Manchester Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Without Us, by Meena Sears - The Manchester Review","og_description":"  Without Us The shiny wooden floor is unusually clean for a Tuesday afternoon. No dropped broccoli nor puddles of custard decorate its surface. All the folding tables are lined up along the edges of the room Like soldiers in the trenches waiting for the command. Outside the only whistle to be heard is that […]","og_url":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272","og_site_name":"The Manchester Review","article_published_time":"2020-06-04T14:31:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-28T15:02:46+00:00","author":"The Manchester Review","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Manchester Review","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272","url":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272","name":"Without Us, by Meena Sears - The Manchester Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-06-04T14:31:03+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-28T15:02:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/e6deb0374609919f6e86f6ee1defe8cc"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11272#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Without Us, by Meena Sears"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/","name":"The Manchester Review","description":"The Manchester Review","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/e6deb0374609919f6e86f6ee1defe8cc","name":"The Manchester Review","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif","caption":"The Manchester Review"},"description":"The Manchester Review was founded in 2008 and is published by the Centre for New Writing at The University of Manchester. We aspire to bring together online, without a paper edition, the best of international writing from well-known, established writers alongside new, relatively unknown poets and prose-writers.","url":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?author=45"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2PuXo-2VO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11272"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11272"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11285,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11272\/revisions\/11285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}