Jenny Hamlett
Twin
Yes, we played together. In poppy red dresses
we were each other’s replica. We shared teddies,
trucks, balls, even our pink knickers. We were one head,
heart, in the same class at school. Two makeweights,
each incomplete without the other. We could both paint.
I did the Christmas decorations - well, some of them.
Lizzie did some. In fact Lizzie painted almost all.
The teacher wanted a professional touch.
Lizzie, you’re out there in front of me like a runner
two paces ahead and I can’t keep up. We go on
as the finishing line moves back but this gap
between us widens. You increase your lead
from a crack to a canyon. At school you learned
of maps and bearings? You followed a compass
in the dark when I couldn’t find the right angles
to measure. I see you ahead, gaining the light
while I’m still stuck in the gullet of an alley and yet
I hold the knife that will slice us apart.
It will chop down leaving arteries exposed,
tendons dangling. Wait. Here, tonight
on the deserted station with one train coming,
its twin lights lumbering through the dark,
you become that white dog aimless on the track.
And when the train has gone I will be riding
westwards - without you.
Page(s) 29
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