SKIN & BLISTER

we grin & grimace
drop candle wax
onto our fingertips

as the storm
rattles our window pane
angry that we won’t let it in

All night
it rages
toppling chimney

pots with a crash
smashing slates
it strips from rooftops

as we safe
giggle & peel off
our waxen fingerprints

hold them
(tiny whirlpools)
in our palms

those whorls
of self
unique to each

I wearing my sister’s
fingerprints
she... wearing mine

*

SKIN & BLISTER is Cockney rhyming slang for sister. We were so close we could have worn each other fingerprints and as a little boy I was delighted to do so. I was her and me was she. This I guess is something we did to amuse ourselves before...telly arrived.