A collection of poems and other writings...

Monday 29 April 2019

Birthday Poems for a Brother



John's Poem


When John
stopped going to Mrs Moore’s
he went to
Our Lady Of Lords
and he learned how to
have friends
Marcel
and Tina
and Michael Popplearse
and how to have a drawing book.

Then he learned writing
and he drew pictures of his friends
and underneath he wrote

I like Tina in my tea

and

Marcel is poosticks and a bum.

So this is John’s poem really

I don’t think he knew how to spell
Popplearse.

Lessons in Lego


Jess was born
upstairs
with the door shut
and Cousin Wyn
came to look after us
downstairs.

And when she had come
Cousin Wyn told us
we could tiptoe like mice
up the stairs and see
our new baby sister.

And Mum was there
and Dad
and there was this baby
in a black carry cot
and Mum said the baby
had brought us things,
and if we put our hands
in the bottom end
of the carry cot
we would find the things
she had brought.

I didn’t know
how a baby
could get to the shops
but Mum said
I didn't need
to worry about that.

And there were things -

I got a little box of lego,
blue lego
roof pieces.
It was all right.

Then John opened his box -
when I saw what he got
fireworks went off in my head
John got
little yellow curved bits of lego
that made a fantastic round tower
if you put them all together.

Yellow bits
not blue.
Curved bits
not roof bits.

And they said the baby
was called Jessica Mary
and that she was the baby now
and I had to be her big brother
and teach her things.

I thought I should better teach her about
lego.

I expect Kate got something too
but she was six
and I didn’t want it
it was probably a wet yourself dolly
or something.


Only a game


John and I
dug Jess a grave
in the garden.

Dad had been doing some digging
and we asked if we could.

He did not know
why we were digging,
but we dug a trench
then mounded
up the soil
as if we had buried Jess there.

Then we made a cross
out of two bamboo poles
and made a paper sign
with
Jessica Baldwin
RIP
written on it.

When we told Mum
she thought we were mean.
So did Jess.

The Russells
were coming for tea
and she said
don’t let Ann Russell
see our grave
she might get upset
and cry.

Ann was seven
and it was only a game.

So John and me
we went and
jumped up and down

on Jess’s grave.

No comments:

Post a Comment