Wipe your nose
don’t do that
use a handkerchief
you’re disgusting
don’t use your sleeve
what’s that, not snot
brainwash leak, damn
cheek, you’re full of it.
#
Brainwash – rinse, spin, condition.
Author: EDC Writing/Believing Sight Unseen
Some things
It seems a while now,
not sure how or why,
if she or I had reason,
I guess some things
are to be lived, yes,
best described inside,
no words, by feelings.
‘How have you been’
He goes outside now,
sees her on his street,
a year older, she smiles
stops to chat with him,
mutual ‘How have you been’
picking up on, tying loose ends,
edging closer, a kind of adoration
her mind and his, closer than a kiss.
Arrows
Letters not meant for, yet
read as if they knew, as if he
knew himself what lay between
him and someone else, as if their
right to judge, not let dust settle,
a narrow view, unsheathed arrows
aimed, let fall as English rain.
Yet To See
Looking out for
one he’d yet to see
platforms recycle
ebb and flow of feet
noon arrival, watch
tells she missed, phone
caught her sorry, hours on
looking out for, yet to see.
Bungalow Living
Four walls, closed door, open window,
early morning, few people walking,
almost forgotten, sound of child’s play,
low horizon, flat road, ambulance knows
the way, knock, walk in, no stairway
to heaven, once two, vacant possession,
you’re young for this road.
What’s That
Knowing you, as we do,
paths crossing into beds,
made, as we are now,
if I’d asked you, what’s that,
I couldn’t have, yes, but
that was then, what’s that,
go on then, will I, yes.
Saturday Shorts – Thing
One thing, two of them
thing is, she didn’t know
thing is, he couldn’t tell
Saturday Shorts – England, Spring 1970
‘What you doing, Son?’
‘Looking for a paint tin’
‘Looking for a job then?’
‘Mum told me to’
‘She tells me that too’
‘Ah, here’s a ‘Dulux’ one’
‘It’s almost empty’
‘It’s the address of ‘ICI’ I need’
‘You’re going for it then?’
‘I’ll be a scientist, you’ll see’
~
ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries) was the British forerunner of the Anglo-Swedish and Anglo-Swiss bioscience companies, AstraZeneca and Syngenta.
Asked Him
Never handsome
yet had something
naive blushed easy
kissed gentle no tongue
held hands never groping
none kept him for long
he’d heard the whispers
he the slow one, kind though
too obeisant for his own good
one smiled, shyly asked him
to walk a while with her.
