Isobel Thrilling
The Dress
Pink velvet with puff sleeves and rows
of tiny buttons,
the child loathed
its shiny smugness, the way
it slopped about her knees,
bodiless as a jellyfish
without the art of swimming.
She liked her brown shorts,
tough cotton, clearly-shaped
with minimum cling,
they reassured her legs
they were meant to walk fields, hills.
This garment leached her spirit,
it looked feverish, ill,
as it caught
the light and congealed.
Her mother sighed at the gritted face,
sulky dress.
How she had loved the fabric,
its milky sheen now soured, fit only
to be mopped up by
its tissue-paper wrapping, laid to rest.
Page(s) 61
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