I took my sadness for a walk
It asked me, Please
can we look at the green trees
at the helicopters twirling from their branches,
at the little cat called Geoffrey
who sits in a pile of ginger fluff.
So I told it, IF we must.
Afterwards, I walked it to the park,
to a pond where the ducks go
quack quack quack
not unhappily.
I walked it to the bakery,
It asked me for a doughnut
stuffed with jam.
Mmm it said and licked its lips.
I took my sadness for a walk
across the playing fields
and right up to the edges
of the cemetery.
This is where we’ll both end up I told it,
You and me. It turned to see
the gravestones soft with moss,
angels arranged becomingly
in attitudes of prayer,
flowers bunched nicely
here and there.
It licked the final crust of sugar
from its lips
and put its arm round me.
Come on, it said, Lets find a cup of tea.
can we look at the green trees
at the helicopters twirling from their branches,
at the little cat called Geoffrey
who sits in a pile of ginger fluff.
So I told it, IF we must.
Afterwards, I walked it to the park,
to a pond where the ducks go
quack quack quack
not unhappily.
I walked it to the bakery,
It asked me for a doughnut
stuffed with jam.
Mmm it said and licked its lips.
I took my sadness for a walk
across the playing fields
and right up to the edges
of the cemetery.
This is where we’ll both end up I told it,
You and me. It turned to see
the gravestones soft with moss,
angels arranged becomingly
in attitudes of prayer,
flowers bunched nicely
here and there.
It licked the final crust of sugar
from its lips
and put its arm round me.
Come on, it said, Lets find a cup of tea.
Kathryn Simmonds’s first pamphlet, Snug, is published in June 2004 by Smith/Doorstop Books.
Page(s) 76
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