The mannequins look strangely dignified as they stand there, despite being long since stripped of their clothes, their purpose, their audience of polite admirers dreaming forever unfilled dreams of replicating their style
____________
Notes:
1. Written on May 5th, 2024
__________“Stop being weird, Claire,” Ethel said.
“I’m not being weird,” Claire said, from inside the bin. “I’m being loud.”
To prove her point, she kicked the metal bin as hard as she could while standing inside it, causing it to gong like a bell.
“You can be two things at once, you know?” Tina said, quietly and seriously.
“You can’t,” Claire said.
“You can,” Ethel said. “And you are.”
“Don’t be stupid. I’m not weird at all,” Claire said. “Daniel’s weird.”
“Daniel’s not weird he’s whimsical,” Tina said.
“Bringing the cat to the shops isn’t whimsical, it’s weird,” Claire said. “Really weird.”
“She wanted to see where cat biscuits came from,” Daniel said. “And now she knows.”
The cat meowed to let everyone know she did know now and everyone crouched down to stroke her except Claire, who began kicking the inside of the bin again until she had everyone’s attention.
“Daniel’s weird, I’m loud, Tina’s, urgh, thoughtful, and Ethel’s contrary,” Claire said.
“I’m not contrary!”
“You are!” Claire declared, banging the bin lid against the side of the bin to finalise the pronouncement. “And that’s that!”
“What about Mum?” Tina asked.
“Mum’s exasperated,” Agnes said, emerging from the shop with several carrier bags full of spilt cat biscuits. “And Daniel, if that cat ever wants to know where fish come from, don’t you dare take her to the pet shop, okay?”
__________
Notes:
1. Written on April 25th, 2023
__________We walked the aisles
forever
never stopping
to worry
whether we could afford it
or needed it
or even really wanted it
The tills were so far away
we just piled it all up high
with an abandoned exuberance
in the baskets hanging from our arms
and the trolleys
which snaked ahead of us
like a cargo train
It was comforting
somehow
too
so alongside the excitement
and the glee
here was a feeling
of strange contentment
as we walked onward
through this labyrinth
we never wanted to escape
lost
in this dream
from which
we feared to wake
__________
Notes:
1. Written on August 1st, 2019
__________
__________
Notes:
1. Written on April 25th, 2019
__________