April Cold

( and it WAS cold)

early morning
should have been the highlight
of the school week
soft hearted thirteen year old
peering through clear glass windows
waiting for the paper boy

jet black hair
cool over the collar curls
his distinct dark green sweater
chunky with its cable knit
adorned with a long cavendish scarf
tasseled at the ends
cycling ever nearer
down from the top of the road
moving closer by the minute

listen for the clatter
as he delivers Bunty through
the letterbox
on to polished parquet flooring
my favourite comic
easing the dread
of what was coming next

a twenty minute coach ride
to ice cold chlorinated water
Churchill’s open air pool
with its stale smell of sweaty
changing rooms never forgotten
nauseous and nailed
into the olfactory memory

us youngsters blue with anticipation
that shock of freezing water
a hit on skinny limbs
stealing breath clean away
left gasping for air
shivering in tortured silence

if you don’t get in yourselves
i will give you a little help
overweight in size
smirking in his thick tweed jacket

last night he turned up
in my dreams
still smirking all these years later

Reviews

[Rosie C]

Friendly and heat-warming vibes throughout this piece.

I’m getting a cosy fire feeling in my stomach while reading this.
I can tell that you have a warm personality and it shows for itself in each stanza.

I like it when poetry shows a bit of character because it gives the whole thing a bit of life.
And it’s something for the reader to get hooked on.

A pleasure to read. Bittersweet…

[Chris Shaw]

Dear Rosie, that paper boy certainly gave me warm feelings, in sharp contrast with the dunking in freezing cold water which filled me with dread. Bittersweet indeed. Pleased you enjoyed the read. Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Chris

[Betty Hermelee]

Dreams are sometimes pretty kooky……all jumbled up with flashes of people and how they react to the chill…some very vivid imagination there dear Chris…” That shock of freezing water”….oh yes, as youngsters we simply “played” with the cold….until our faces were blue….
Ps we had a very cold winter…. Finally spring has sprung🌷
Warmly
B.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you dear Betty for sharing your thoughts. Strange how dreams can bring stuff back from the past. The paper boy was welcome, the dunking in freezing water wasn’t :). Have a great weekend Betty.

Chris

[Betty Hermelee]

My pleasure Chris...have a pleasant week!!!
Warmly, B

[Thomas W Case]

The memory hits like a cold slap—you can feel that thirteen-year-old awe, the green sweater, the comic, the shock of water.
You’ve captured longing and dread in the same breath, like nostalgia that refuses to let go.

[Chris Shaw]

A dream with such contrast. Strange how this stuff comes back years later. Thank you so much Thomas. Have a good Wednesday.

Chris

[Desert Knave]

Truly enjoyed the visuals of the paperboy, as a former friend and I were just talking about when I used to deliver papers. Kind of glad the olfactory of the changing rooms does not trigger any memories LOL. Good write. ~Jim

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Jim, the paper boy was worth remembering, the rest I would rather have forgotten. Strange how dreams churn stuff up years later. Have a great Wednesday.

Chris

[Einstein Noodle]

such profound contrast and turn .. i was so enjoying your imaging of that paper boy and his sweater and scarf ... idyllic like a Norman Rockwell ... turned into such "COLD"! what a story that lies hidden from us ... i'm a bit starving for it, Chris ... will you write ... "the rest of the story"? ;)
E.

[Chris Shaw]

It’s taken me years to write this one Mr E, not sure there will be a sequel 🤣. I thank you though for your thoughts. Have a beautiful day over the pond.

Chris

[Einstein Noodle]

you too Chris! worth the wait says i!

[Fabian G. Franklin]

I played in the mountain creeks and woods here as a kid, with a hunting knife strapped to one hip in a pair of cut-off jean shorts; no shoes, no shirt, no sunscreen, no hat. I was brown as Mowgli and not far removed in nature. Caught snakes, lizards, toads, frogs, turtles, fish and anything else that crossed my path. Winter I was mostly cutting wood and hauling it in my wagon. Nothing like childhood adventuring. My story sounds like fun but yours sounds traumatizing.

[Chris Shaw]

Your story was definitely fun Fabian. All that outside activity. Mine was in the main, with one or two exceptions. The swimming lessons in ice cold water should have been fun, they weren’t. That teacher had a viscious streak. I appreciate your share. Thanks for stopping by.

Chris

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

It is no doubt hard for a parent when the child grows up and the sweet memories are all they hav. But you certainly expressed it very nicely

[Chris Shaw]

Thanks for stopping by Dale. Hope all is good with you.

Chris

[red93]

Ooh this is interesting Chris, a vivid memory from School Days. I am sure this could be a whole new theme or set of themes in yr Excellent Poetry. At my Senior School, it was the other boys one had to worry about, and the Teachers were all pretty good. A definite development in yr Writing. Exceptional ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks Tony. We had one or two teachers who had a viscious streak. He was one of them. There were as well other children who were just as nasty. Your supportive words are much appreciated. Have a good Wednesday.

Chris

[red93]

Very interesting Chris. At Clifton, some of the boys were real Nigel Farage types. The English Teachers, if they found you had an enthusiasm and love for Literature, were really Excellent - in fact the English Department @ Clifton was in many ways superior to the equivalent at my Oxford College.

[Soren]

A snapshot in time this poem brings back memories and resurrected that smell long buried under mounds of years. Very nicely written Chris

[Chris Shaw]

Some smells you never forget, same with people. The past coming back in dreams. Thank you Soren. read moreSome smells you never forget, same with people. The past coming back in dreams. Thank you Soren.

Chris

[Soren]

You are most welcome Chris

[Neville]

Absolutely brilliant our Chris .. You could be recalling my very own Barry Road Pool where I and many hundreds of other poor souls was personally forced to learn how to swim .. it really was a question of sink or swim back then .. We had a very ferocious teacher who was known as the Beast of Barry Road and I am conscious of the fact there are still those among us who have flashbacks about her and what she put us through ..

Neville💜

[Chris Shaw]

I love swimming and have always been a good swimmer, but that nasty b who was on hand to “help” us into the ice cold water and did, was my kind of nightmare in my younger years. Seems you experienced similar Neville back in the day. Couldn’t believe he turned up in my dreams recently and still smirking. Have a good Wednesday.

Chris 💜

[Neville]

and back at you too our Chris .. 💜