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Poetry Library Southbank Centre - The Poetry Library housing the Arts Council Collection at Southbank Centre

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Pippa Meek

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On looking into a Reader's Digest

Say, in one of those scenarios
where you’ve been lost in the jungle
after a big airplane crash,
and left to die - but manage to keep alive
by eating berries and catching fish
in your bare hands.

And for three weeks you crawl
on your hands and knees
warding off snakes and giant spiders
and drinking turgid water
from standing pools.

And you eventually reach
a place of civilisation -
which you recognise
by the high-rise buildings
and adverts for coca-cola.

Say, you crawl up to a door
and with your last strength
you knock on it.

And the door is a door in SW11
or almost any city.  And you ask
for food, water and medical assistance.
And the man or woman who opens the door -
who could be you - slams it again
or rushes past you as you hold out
a plastic cup in the rain.

Page(s) 44

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