Jenny Clarkson
Memories Of Playing Pool
Our opponents come from one step away
on the evolutionary ladder.
They've swung in on telegraph wires
from the high-rise flats.
Balanced on prehensile tails, they make me notice
walking upright is precarious.
My clothes feel like my mother's.
I choose a cue as I would a form of suicide.
They win the toss and he breaks
Balls glide around
like a universe taking shape.
My partner almost pots a red then slinks back
into the shadows.
Here comes a girl as slim as my hopes,
bends from the tight bottom in her jeans,
holds the cue like an extra stiletto heel
between fingers thin as cigarettes.
Red balls drop casually into pockets.
What has she traded for this pact with gravity?
It's my turn.
I walk a mile to the table,
splay my caricature of a hand on the felt,
balance the cue on it.
My arm needs oiling. And my brain.
I prod the cue forward
onto nothing: onto thin air.
The white ball stares at me, puzzled.
The world stops turning for a moment in surprise.
My partner's desperate talk of recovery from debilitating illness
falls on unsophisticated ears.
Of course the best team wins
and I, in particular, do terribly. The car-ride home will be tense.
But that final, conspiratorial half-nod as the black drops
is why I'll return.
Page(s) 6-7
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