Having completed various jobs
indoors and out
such as running errands
and shopping etc
your mother gave you 2 shillings
and you went through the Square
to a shop on New Kent Road
where you bought
a small penknife
you’d seen in the window
and you showed Jimmy
whose knife collection
was large
including a bayonet
his father brought back
from WW2
but he was unimpressed
showing you in turn
a **** knife his father
took from a dead soldier
from some battle
he’d fought in
you never showed
your mother
but Helen saw it
on the way to school
next morning
and peered at it
through her thick lens spectacles
does your mother know
you bought that?
she asked
no not yet
you replied
pocketing it out of sight
maybe another day
don’t you tell
your mother everything?
she asked
no not everything
you said
I have a need to know
basis I work with
what about truth?
she asked
you gazed at her
in her dark blue raincoat
buttoned to the throat
her wavy hair
in two plaits
her eyes peering at you
through those thick lens of hers
truth is like bubble gum
you said
sometimes
you have to stretch it a bit
to get a bigger bubble
she shook her head
making her plaits move
each side of her head
I don’t want the future father
of my children to be a liar
she said
maybe he won’t
you said
you are
she replied
you looked at
the record shop window
as you went by
a picture of Elvis Presley
was in the window
smiling
don’t you like the knife?
you asked
looking back at her
as you spoke
only if you tell your mother
she said
ok I’ll show her
and tell her
after school
you said
she smiled
and her big eyes
lit up
and she pushed her arm
under yours
and squeezed you near
and all because
of the small penknife
you’d bought from the shop
through the Square
but you did love
her big bright eyes
and wavy plaited hair.