There are things that you would have again

Wading through wild Golden Rod, waist-high,

blackberry-picking with purple-stained fingers,

dark afternoons with Dumbo or Bambi,

an Everlasting Toffee Strip, a Sky Ray lolly,

slow dance discos and bus shelter kisses,

the soft blue shirt you wore at the party

for your eighteenth birthday.

Your eighteenth birthday,

the party, the shirt you wore, soft, blue,

bus shelter kisses, discos, slow dances,

a Sky Ray lolly and a toffee strip, everlasting,

Bambi or Dumbo on dark afternoons,

fingers stained purple, blackberry-picking,

waist-high Golden Rod, wild, wading through.

Written by MARIA C MCCARTHY

Artwork 'DARK AFTERNOONS WITH DUMBO OR BAMBI' by JULI WATSON