WHILE ANOTHER DIES.

A GIRL WAITING FOR HER BOYFRIEND IN LONDON IN 1967.

Julie stuffed the cigarette

into her mouth

and hungrily inhaled

Benedict was late

and she standing

by Charing Cross station

was annoyed

the morning

had started bad

the nurse on the ward

questioned whether

she should be allowed out

after not taking

her medication

and who

was she meeting?

after such questioning

and the doctor saying

OK but to be back

by such and such

an hour

she felt like a child again

as if her parents

had been resurrected here

and not at home

traffic whirled by

noise

cars hooting

vans and lorries

passing by

people

O such people

Eliot was right

about death

undoing so many

she exhaled

watching the smoke

sit on the air

before being

whooshed off

by a passing car

last time Benedict said

he'd meet her

by the station

at such and such

a time

and here she was

but not he

she leaned

against the fence

last time they'd gone

to the cinema

but this time

she wanted

more time away

from such places

to be with him

not sit

and watched a film

but where was he?

she felt like a w***e

standing there

smoking

one hand supporting

one elbow

one hand holding

the cigarette in such

a sluttish way

she did feel

such a s**t

wearing the short skirt

and the red top

her hair drawn severely

into a bun

at the back

of her head

last time

in Trafalgar Square

she'd been almost

picked up twice

dressing as she had

telling them

to f**k off

getting mad

even the nurse

on the ward

thinks she a s**t

especially after

that quick sex

with Benedict

in that side room

she laughed

and inhaled

her spirits rising

with the sight of him

coming up the hill

from the underground

waving his hand madly

happy to see him

knowing the day

after all won't end

that badly

and the image

in her mind

of the sex

in the cupboard

amidst brooms

and buckets

and mops

in the dark

and the fumbling

and he walking fast

towards her

that bright expression

in his eyes

thinking that is how

worlds are born

while another dies.

Julie stuffed the cigarette

into her mouth

and hungrily inhaled

Benedict was late

and she standing

by Charing Cross station

was annoyed

the morning

had started bad

the nurse on the ward

questioned whether

she should be allowed out

after not taking

her medication

and who

was she meeting?

after such questioning

and the doctor saying

OK but to be back

by such and such

an hour

she felt like a child again

as if her parents

had been resurrected here

and not at home

traffic whirled by

noise

cars hooting

vans and lorries

passing by

people

O such people

Eliot was right

about death

undoing so many

she exhaled

watching the smoke

sit on the air

before being

whooshed off

by a passing car

last time Benedict said

he'd meet her

by the station

at such and such

a time

and here she was

but not he

she leaned

against the fence

last time they'd gone

to the cinema

but this time

she wanted

more time away

from such places

to be with him

not sit

and watched a film

but where was he?

she felt like a w***e

standing there

smoking

one hand supporting

one elbow

one hand holding

the cigarette in such

a sluttish way

she did feel

such a s**t

wearing the short skirt

and the red top

her hair drawn severely

into a bun

at the back

of her head

last time

in Trafalgar Square

she'd been almost

picked up twice

dressing as she had

telling them

to f**k off

getting mad

even the nurse

on the ward

thinks she a s**t

especially after

that quick sex

with Benedict

in that side room

she laughed

and inhaled

her spirits rising

with the sight of him

coming up the hill

from the underground

waving his hand madly

happy to see him

knowing the day

after all won't end

that badly

and the image

in her mind

of the sex

in the cupboard

amidst brooms

and buckets

and mops

in the dark

and the fumbling

and he walking fast

towards her

that bright expression

in his eyes

thinking that is how

worlds are born

while another dies.