Ian Nimmo White
Requiem
He’s on my right shoulder today,
going on about Bradman’s triple hundred,
the history of cagebirds and how,
if it hadn’t been for him and such
as him, Hitler would have won.
He’ll turn to his garden and dig,
breaking down frustration,
burying Malta and Murmansk,
and building opportunity for me
in his head. Endlessly digging.
She is on my left shoulder,
playing the part of Serena Meek
in Paisley Amateur Dramatic Society’s
Lord Richard in the Pantry. She’ll take
three curtain calls with me stood
both embarrassed and proud in short
trousers and knee-length socks.
Next day, she’ll treat me to lunch
in a posh restaurant. She’ll talk
of Mrs Pankhurst and Greta Garbo,
while smoking cigarettes in style.
This was mere drama to me,
I wanted the world.
It didn’t seem much to ask for.
I reckoned it wouldn’t take long.
Page(s) 48
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