a wodge uh Wrigley’s
‘ard an knobbly on thuh underside
uh desks
shufflin’ tuh DJ Caspar
in thuh ‘all
unduh thuh gaze uh
year three’s
it were
packed lunches,
dislodging mi brace
from thuh roof of mi mouth
like extractin’ a tooth,
scoffin’ bars uh white chocolate
years-old Blu-Tack
stamped black intuh carpets,
grey plastic-y chairs,
writin’ learnin’ objectives,
underlinin’ dates
with shatterproof rulers,
I upgraded tuh a pen
in year four
same time
remember listenin’ on the radio
in Scottish Clark’s mobile
when it wuh Ingland v Brazil,
summer uh ‘02,
thuh likes of Sheringham, Beckham
in audio only, no picture,
and thuh TA came in
‘alfway throo a lesson,
said ‘we’re out’
and the time
I cort that cricket ball,
dived and it stung mi hand,
a crimson-drizzled palm,
throbbin’ ring
and the time
we played football wi’ tennis *****
and I blurted intuh a trio
uh eager classmates,
a tumble-shirt compote,
knee flecked wi’ grit, mi own spit,
skinny whispers uh blood
and thuh time
I plagiarised Potter
around Azkaban,
got a Woolies notebook,
ragged Pritt-Sticked cuttins’
of Watson in the pink ‘oodie,
but it wuh the seed
for thuh next decade and more,
standin’ up,
tellin’ a story,
somethin’ or othuh
Written: October 2017.
Explanation: A poem written for university in my own time, influenced by the work of Liz Berry. Changes are very possible. It is written in a slightly exaggerated version of my accent. Please note that Wrigley's refers to the chewing gum company, DJ Caspar to the musician, year three's/year four to students aged between seven and nine in England, Blu-Tack to the putty-like adhesive, 'Ingland' v Brazil to the knockout round match in the World Cup of 2002 (David Beckham and Teddy Sheringham were players at the time), TA to teaching assistant, Woolies to the former British retail chain Woolworths, Pritt-Stick to the glue stick adhesive, and Watson to the actress Emma Watson. A link to my Facebook writing page can be found on my HP home page.
NOTE: Many of my older pieces will be removed from HP at some point in the future.
