Matthew Stoppard
Between the Slide and the Library
1st PrizeTUT Open Poetry Competition
Flakes of paint, shedding from the Kenning Park gate frame,
Showered a pigtail-topped toddler and her grandfather
With rust dusted charcoal confetti.
The sun seared his skin, sulking on his joints
Like rag-doll cotton and he regretted wearing a cardigan -
Among other things.
Wringing dungaree straps and creasing her face at the wind,
The child tumbled towards the seesaw for balance.
Splashes of sunlight bouncing off the slide blinded her,
As she mewed back to her grandfather wheezing by the library;
One arm draped over his paunch, waving with his other.
Fingers at half-mast.
Once saddled in the swing, he creaked after her.
She flailed and jutted to propel herself forward
And he yanked his collar, feeling sweat chain-link his fringe.
Two steps and humid thunder rolled upwards from his brogues
To the scratched tobacco tin in his breast pocket.
Roundabout’s spin slowed.
Clawing for the slide steps, he sank backwards
And clattered to the grass - like a tired ironing board.
The child dismounted and stammered to her grandfather’s side:
He had played dead before but was not so docile.
She tugged at the already-stretched wool; dribble on her lips,
Dusk in his eyes.
Page(s) 5
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