SEEMING ONE 1960

A BOY AND GIRL IN LONDON IN 1960

We had sat

on the grass

by Banks House

warm morning

Fay's dress was

a faded blue

her fair hair

almost blonde

was let loose

Daddy said

we must pray

for the souls

in the place

Purgatory

Fay told me

where's that place?

I asked her

Daddy said

a place or

state of great

soul suffering

inhabited

by the souls

of sinners who

atone for

their own sins

before they go

to heaven

Fay explained

I unscrewed

a bottle of

lemonade

and passed it

over for

Fay to drink

she took sips

then gave it

back to me

I swigged some

then put it

beside me

on the grass

what a place

to avoid

if you can

I tell her

Daddy said

our prayers help

them get out

I take out

from my jean's

pocket a

paper bag

of wine gums

I offer

her the bag

she took one

and then she

sedately

put it in

between lips

to her mouth

I watched her

my 12 year

old girlfriend

doing that

it had a

beauty to

the action

her fingers

in motion

opening

of her lips

her blue eyes

I mouthed 2

red wine gums

and sucked them

all the time

watching her

not thinking

of the place

Purgatory

or the souls

but her there

her beauty

as we sat

on the grass

warmed up by

morning sun

both of us

seeming one.