The Dispensary
I am beside him, standing on a stool
and counting pills in little round white boxes,
watching him stick the labels, write the dose
and cork the bottles, pressing with his palm.
There is a smell of peppermint and bromide.
He lets me pack the long white paper bags.
I do it slowly, careful to discharge
my delegated task responsibly.
He smiles at me.
I watch his spatulate fingers
as he taps powder from a measuring spoon
or holds a little glass up to the light,
pince-nez suspended from his waistcoat-button.
He doesn’t talk except to give instructions
but shows me how to make the labels stick
neatly around the bottles’ curving sides.
He hatched surprises bright as butterflies.
One summer birthday, he laid pill-boxes
in rows along the lawn - Dispensing Race.
The secret Guy in his consulting room
revealed on Bonfire Night as Mathematics
(he used to help me with my Algebra).
At boarding school I hoarded his letters
underneath my pillow. He never knew.
He called himself Next Best.
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