Jenny Clarkson
Waterfall
I can’t stop it
can’t stop
thinking about it
wish
I’d never seen it
school trip
twenty years ago
too much
for a nine-year-old
from suburbia
it’s gushed
inside me
ever since
head to toe
no-one knows
it washes away
my thoughts
in my ears
hissing babbling
an ice-cold sheet
of water falling
falling
no wonder
I seem pre-occupied
no wonder
I don't take your advice
about joining an evening class
I was normal
when I was nine
except games
never seemed quite
exciting enough
but I could have got by
with a little help
from sex and drugs
but I saw too much
learned the lesson
of the waterfall
too young
became each droplet
hurtling
anonymously
over the edge
crashing
on rocks
drowned
in the sea
my friends
giggling in spray
still content
with stories and sums
only I learned
the lesson of the waterfall
the valuable lesson of the waterfall
too young
Page(s) 15
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