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Terry Collett
Poems
Aug 2013
TRIP TO THE TOWER.
Ingrid sat next to you
on the school hired coach
to the Tower of London
sun poured
through the window
making you feel hotter
and Ingrid
who usually smelt
of dampness
smelt of oranges
fresh peeled
her usual well worn
raincoat and cardigan
were gone
and she was clothed
in a creamy blouse
and green skirt
and off white socks
and plimsolls
(her shoes in
the shoe smith
being mended
she had said)
and you in a grey
open neck shirt
and grey flannel
short trousers
( no jeans
the teacher said
the day before)
and once all the kids
were aboard
and the teachers
had counted heads
the coach took off
and the talking erupted
and voices filled the air
and laughter and chatter
and you looked by Ingrid
at the passing view
she looked out too
her hair you noticed
washed and combed
and on her lap
in a bag
her packed lunch
and she held
the bag tightly
and you noticed
her fingers
the nails bitten
but the ink stains gone
and she turned
and said how excited
she was and that
she'd never been
to the Tower before
and that her dad had said
she wouldn't have gone
if her mother hadn't paid
and moaning
about the cost
and don't we have enough
to pay what with
one thing and another
and she lowered
her voice
and whispered
that her dad had hit her
for wanting to go
and her mother too
for interfering
and she pulled up
her skirt and showed you
a bruise on her thigh
then she looked away
and was silent
and you thought
that if you saw him
you'd have pop him
one with your cap gun
(symbolic of course)
then she turned
and said not
to tell anyone
and you said
you wouldn't
and she smiled
and squeezed your hand
and you hoped
none of the boys about
saw her hand
but you were glad
she had and you felt
kind of grown up
with a girlfriend
of your own
like those in the films
you'd seen where
the cowboy gets his girl
in those usual boring bits
you tended to hate
but there again
you and she were
just good friends
and only eight.
Written by
Terry Collett
Sussex, England
(Sussex, England)
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