Jeanette Hattersley
Call It Mature
‘Can I buy you some dinner?’
he says to my breasts,
more rounded after fifteen years,
mature
like the creases round his eyes
and the hair
sprouting from the open collar.
We go downstairs.
I need dark glasses
to cope with the tablecloths,
the peaks of serviettes …
a far cry from those days
at Sylvio ‘s -
those red plastic seats
which stuck to the flesh
and made rude noises
when you leaned forward
for the pepper or salt.
‘I’m starving, shall we go in here?’
he’d say,
and we’d sit near the counter
by rows of milk-shake syrups
bright as Woolworth’s bubble-bath.
Tonight we sip wine,
eat four courses.
His car’s outside;
a nippy little number
he picked up down South
along with the accent.
He smiles - white -
and I recall that hard cake
that turned his lips and tongue
blackberry-blue that time,
that first time
when he didn’t dare kiss me
as he put me on the bus.
This time, I may not be
so lucky.
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