Upbringing, day 10

Upbringing.

The world was unready for bright girls, so she

Twisted sense, damped down sounds, protected self

Adjust the simple into a shroud,

A life preserving childhood shield

That would, like bonsai mould and hide

Understanding bullies could not abide.

This misshapen fitting-in she found

Can make you become invisible

And my careless learning made her sneer

An accusation, a warning: that bit hard,

Stopped up lips made us trudge for common ground

Where we would stay, armoured, wary, all our lives,

Though her envy for my tongue tied freedom

Would now and then confuse itself with pride

Day 10, Lara

Life 

When we went out to find the stars -

stared up and far -

we wondered
if there was another us staring back. 

Day Ten: Shaun

Cohabitation

Low fat, low taste
Low salt, low waste
Packaged up in a stack
of bags for life.
Health up, fat low
My Dad must not know.
My Dad must not know. 

Day 10: Ashley

First Draft

Fast as a first draft

white hot words hit the page

some scorch - some steam

some blaze like comets with a brilliance

that imprints on the retina of all who see

some stain like fag burns:

unsightly and embarrassing brown smudges.

A tumble jumble of thoughts

logical, chronological,

illogical, immaterial

ethereal

ephemeral.

All to be levelled and elevated by the

revising

rewriting

revisiting

reworking

of the editing process:

polishing to porfoction.

Ashley Lister