Branded By Hot Lips
Christina sat crossed legged
on the grass of the school playing field
her friends got up and left
as you arrived after school lunch
where's your friend Rolland?
she asked
gone off with Woolgar
to play football
you replied
she patted the grass
beside her
why don't you sit down?
she said
so you sat down beside her
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poem by Terry Collett
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Julie and You in Trafalgar Square
Julie sat on one
of the fountain walls
in Trafalgar Square
and lit a cigarette
she looked about her
as if she were onto
something harder
as if she had some one
looking at her
from some secret place
you gazed at her
unused to seeing her
not in her hospital
dressing gown
and slippered feet
her hair had been brushed neat
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poem by Terry Collett
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Visiting Julie
Chocolates and cigarettes?
Julie says
as you sit in a chair
opposite her
in the rest room
of the hospital
in the psychiatric ward
I thought you'd prefer them
to flowers
you reply
yes
she says
flowers tend to lie
heavy in my gut
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poem by Terry Collett
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The Phone Gift
Cedric gave you a photograph
in the playground
making sure no one
was looking his way first
Christina said to give you this
he said
you took the photograph
and gazed at a picture
of a girl laughing
with dark hair
looking at the camera
in mid pose
thanks
you said
putting the photo
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poem by Terry Collett
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Judith and a Wedding Day
You and Judith
sang in the choir
at the major's
daughter's wedding
and after
you walked along
to the house and gardens
where the reception
was being held
where there were marquees
for food of various kinds
and a huge beer tent
where there was champagne
and beer and wine
and soft drinks and lemonade
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poem by Terry Collett
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One Leg Anne and the Innocent Flirt.
Sister Mary pushed Anne
in her wheelchair
to the white table
where you were sitting
with Lydia Sad
and Malcolm
and a curly headed girl
with burn scars
on her face and neck
there
said the nun
here you can sit
and wait for breakfast
and catch the morning sun
Anne looked glumly
at the sky
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poem by Terry Collett
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Anne and the Boys's Bath Night
It was the boys' bath night
and you had bathed
and were drying yourself
with the white towel
they had given you
when the bathroom door flew open
and Anne stood there one-legged
in her pink flowered nightdress
perching on her crutches like a hawk
her eyes bright and dark
a smile lingering on her lips
well bugger me
she said
what a sight
for a girl's lovesick eyes
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poem by Terry Collett
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Janice and You and the Spider
You stood
in the playground
of St Jude's school
which was really
the basement
of a bombed out house
which had been gutted
and the basement tarmaced
and the walls
were still there
where kids climbed up
and around
the thin ledge
when Janice
put her hands
over your eyes
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poem by Terry Collett
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Unexpected Father.
Your mother
had brought Helen
home for tea after school
and she had held on
to the handle
of the pram
your mother pushed
and you walked
along side
thinking of whether
to show her
your toy soldiers
and cowboys and Indians
and the guns
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poem by Terry Collett
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Sitter at Windows.
I am a sitter at windows, said Lucia;
I am a thinker of sad thoughts, a gazer
at stars and moon and the bright hot
afternoon sun. My thoughts taunt me
like bullying children, they repeat
words and images and strings of verbal
abuse like repetitive vomit. I sit at
the window with folded arms, my bum
numb on the window ledge, my eyes
peering through the netted curtains,
taking in the sights, the people, the cats
and dogs, the cars and buses, the odd
cyclists, the women pushing prams,
children crying at the side. I see and
know my childhood ghosts, the locked
doors, the no supper nights, the starving
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poem by Terry Collett
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