Dragon Talk

just off to a lecture on Beowulf.

(I am not making this up,
and you are too young to think it odd.)

You were no showy beauty, dear mother,
but your personality was bright rainbow,
and your kindness had velvety wings.

Mr Ferris, who was a friend of theirs,
had a thin moustache, and looked like a spiv.

They invited us to tea; we had shrimps
for the first time, and played with the baby.

Sausage curry with potatoes and carrots,
our staple dish (though our mother afterwards
always denied it) seemed appropriate too.

Only in her dreams are we lost,
as sometimes she was lost in ours.

as immoral, until she found the one
who slashed her hymen with surgical scissors –
she haemorrhaged all over the couch.

lurking hopefully on the windowsill
but ready to fly if I turn nasty.

My sister and I were fond of Miss Miller
(a teacher), and the Curtisses were friendly.