A Poem – November 2012
November 2012
Pulling up after the wedding reception
they see her, their neighbor,
standing in the street.
She is looking, she says,
for a lift to her home in London.
‘Hazel,’ they tell her,
‘you live here in this house.’
The door is open.
They take her in
and see she has packed a bag,
(if a jumper and a biscuit count as packing)
Oh Hazel,
It is 35 years since you left London
to live, as you said, ‘in the shires’.
but she is still
within you
the grammar school girl
from Loughborough Junction
kissing sailors and dancing
In Trafalgar Square.
It is VE day
and the rest of the century
Is yours.
Comments on "A Poem – November 2012"
Memories of my mother and my aunt. Sad.
Lesley (formerly of Balham)
I really like the poem, its realism, lack of sentimentality but with moving feeling and a sense of history. Published a collection?
The spelling of “neighbor” misled me – I remember someone at school pronouncing that “mizzled” – into thinking, for a monument it would be in the US, but then autocorrect changed what I just wrote, from moment to monument, for example!?
Beautiful.
Beautiful. xxxx
A poignant poem,written,I presume(as a Daphne reader)from bitter personal experience.My sympathy to you three Smiths and respective families,whom,I’m sure,between you, will be able to find the best possible way for you to help Hazel through this phase of her life journey.How pissingly platitudinous this seems:it was much better in first edit,which I promptly lost when I tried to submit it.So,once again,I blame your website!(I somehow managed to tweet your poem,so all is not lost)
Beautiful, but terribly sad. Give her my love. She might remember me.