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Terry Collett
Poems
Jan 2013
HELEN AND YOU AND THE PIRATE SHIP.
Helen sat next to you
on the flat concrete roof
of the brick walled
bomb shelter
out the front
of Banks House
after school
she lifting
and lowering her legs
against the wall
her black battered shoes
making a dull thudding noise
and you sitting dead still
watching her white socks
go up and down
and she said
mum said
I couldn’t bring
Battered Betty
because she’d given her
a wash in the bath
you took in
her thick lens glasses
catching the late
afternoon sunlight
her hair in plaits
her hands placed flat
on either side of her legs
on the concrete roof
and as she spoke
about the doll
you thought about the boys
who said she smelt
of yesterday’s dinners
or called her four eyes
but they were dumbshites
you thought
they didn’t see
the beauty of her
the way her eyes sparkled
behind the lens
or how being next to her
kind of brightened up
the day
not that you’d
tell them that
but you knew it
and they didn’t
and she said
if you close your eyes
you can imagine
we are on a ship
at sea
the grass is the sea
and you said
we could be pirates
I have a sword
my old man made
from steel
and painted blue
and she looked at you
the sunlight blanking out
her eyes and her lips
still speaking
saying things
her words shaped
like diamonds
and she closed her eyes
and so did you
and she put her hand
on yours
and in the darkness
it seemed warm
and smooth
and she said softly
you can save me
from the bad pirates
the ones with eye patches
and black scarves
and scary faces
and you said
yes I could cut them
all down and not miss
and she said
yes and I could be saved
and could give you a kiss
and the ship sailed on
in the dark
behind the eyes
in a world made wonderful
where you could be
8 year old lovers
where no one betrays
and no one dies.
Written by
Terry Collett
Sussex, England
(Sussex, England)
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