**** Morecraft said
about joining the Scouts
who used
the church hall
good venture
he said
we do things
tie knots
and learn
about nature
how to start a fire
with two bits of wood
and sing songs
around campfires
and so on he went
walking home from school
you wanting to join the scouts
like you wanted diarrhoea
listening half heartedly
thinking of what
was for tea
or what to do
after school
and where to go
and we learn how
to put up tents
**** added
the last straw
ok
you said
I’ll think about it
see you around
and so off he went
along Newington Butts
and you went down
the subway and along
whistling
hands in pockets
when you saw Ingrid
up ahead with bent shoulders
and lowered head
what’s up? you said
and she showed you
a tear
in her school dress
a rip in the side
showing
her white vest
my dad’ll **** me
(not quite you knew
but he’d beat her
black and blue)
what do I do?
she said crying
wiping her eyes
don’t go home
just yet
you said
my mum’ll sew it up
like new
we’ll go to
my place first
that’s what we’ll do
so you walked
up and out the subway
and across the bomb site
and up Meadow Row
(her mother or father
needn’t know)
and up the concrete stairs
to your flat and in
and you explained
to your mother
what was wrong
and she said she’d fix it
with needle and thread
and so Ingrid
took off the dress
and gave it
to your mother to sew
and sat there
in the sitting room
in her vest and underwear
fiddling with her fingers
looking around
the room shyly
arms and legs
carrying badges
of black and blue
go get Ingrid
a glass of Tizer
and biscuit
your mother said
and don’t gawk so
and so you went
to the kitchen
and poured
a glass of Tizer
and got a biscuit
from a tin
and took them in
Ingrid wide eyed said
thank you
and took the biscuit
and glass
and nibbled
and sipped
and you told her
about the scouts
and what
Morecraft said
about tents
and tying knots
and lighting fires
with sticks
and such
(not caring much)
and all the time
eyeing the bruises
and welts on legs
and arms
and your mother said
don’t stare so
at Ingrid in her
white( near grey)vest
and underwear
so you changed
the subject
to the cinema
about some cowboy film
where the good guy
twirls his gun
and goes pop pop pop
you said
and gets the baddies
dead
just like that
and how after
the boring bit
where he kisses a girl
he twirls
his gun again
(you need
to practice that)
and she listened
as she sipped her drink
and nibbled the biscuit
sitting there
with her badges
of blue and black
in her underwear
and a red line
across
her skinny back.
Dec 2, 2013
Dec 2, 2013 at 10:59 PM UTC
**** Morecraft said
about joining the Scouts
who used
the church hall
good venture
he said
we do things
tie knots
and learn
about nature
how to start a fire
with two bits of wood
and sing songs
around campfires
and so on he went
walking home from school
you wanting to join the scouts
like you wanted diarrhoea
listening half heartedly
thinking of what
was for tea
or what to do
after school
and where to go
and we learn how
to put up tents
**** added
the last straw
ok
you said
I’ll think about it
see you around
and so off he went
along Newington Butts
and you went down
the subway and along
whistling
hands in pockets
when you saw Ingrid
up ahead with bent shoulders
and lowered head
what’s up? you said
and she showed you
a tear
in her school dress
a rip in the side
showing
her white vest
my dad’ll **** me
(not quite you knew
but he’d beat her
black and blue)
what do I do?
she said crying
wiping her eyes
don’t go home
just yet
you said
my mum’ll sew it up
like new
we’ll go to
my place first
that’s what we’ll do
so you walked
up and out the subway
and across the bomb site
and up Meadow Row
(her mother or father
needn’t know)
and up the concrete stairs
to your flat and in
and you explained
to your mother
what was wrong
and she said she’d fix it
with needle and thread
and so Ingrid
took off the dress
and gave it
to your mother to sew
and sat there
in the sitting room
in her vest and underwear
fiddling with her fingers
looking around
the room shyly
arms and legs
carrying badges
of black and blue
go get Ingrid
a glass of Tizer
and biscuit
your mother said
and don’t gawk so
and so you went
to the kitchen
and poured
a glass of Tizer
and got a biscuit
from a tin
and took them in
Ingrid wide eyed said
thank you
and took the biscuit
and glass
and nibbled
and sipped
and you told her
about the scouts
and what
Morecraft said
about tents
and tying knots
and lighting fires
with sticks
and such
(not caring much)
and all the time
eyeing the bruises
and welts on legs
and arms
and your mother said
don’t stare so
at Ingrid in her
white( near grey)vest
and underwear
so you changed
the subject
to the cinema
about some cowboy film
where the good guy
twirls his gun
and goes pop pop pop
you said
and gets the baddies
dead
just like that
and how after
the boring bit
where he kisses a girl
he twirls
his gun again
(you need
to practice that)
and she listened
as she sipped her drink
and nibbled the biscuit
sitting there
with her badges
of blue and black
in her underwear
and a red line
across
her skinny back.
A BOY AND GIRL IN 1950S LONDON.
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