story of a rope

poem making

(Poem written at Chester Lane Library, Four Acre, 11th July)

sat on the kerb
waiting my turn
didn't think of myself as
poor
I thought poor people
didn't wash their faces

making a big dish of crisps
then the penny would go in the meter
wireless cut out
you had to go out in the dark
'This is the Man in Black
saying goodnight.'

Dick Barton: we listened
a quarter to 7
a gramophone to wind up
and the bedding damp

played on the road
sat on the kerb, waiting my turn
for skipping
told off by dad
cos men spat in the street

lived with my grandparents
8 in the house
be quiet or go outside
a tow-rope thick with grease and oil
a skipping rope
a walk to Sefton Park
one day a year Sunday School to
Thurstaton Hall

going to the parish
aunty was means tested:
they wouldn't give her money
for a new pair of shoes
refused permission

cocoa and sugar
coloured sherberts, a ha'penny poke
ate it til your tongue was raw
sticky lice
(didn't have the price)
strings of sugar
a tow-rope thick with grease and oil
a skipping rope
put it round the old
gaslight
and swing.

Joan Ashcroft and Anonymous
11th July 2011