FLOCK OF WHITE BIRDS 1962

A GIRL IN AFTERNOON LESSONS IN HIGH SCHOOL IN 1962 CANNOT GET THE BOY SHE'D MET OUT OF HER MIND.

She had been
so excited
by seeing John
at lunchtime recess

that she found it
hard to focus
on the afternoon lessons
she sat there

in the classroom
thinking how near
her hand got
to John's

how near
his body was
to hers
on the playing field

but she had
held back
had not gone ahead
and grabbed it

and held it
close to her cheek
she had let
the moments pass by

had just stood there
with him
and he was talking
about the life cycle

of the butterfly
and she just nodded
her head
and gazed at him

his words not really
filtering in
but she taking them
and turning them

around in her head
as if they were
some boiled sweets
with a wonderful taste

and she wanted
she knows now
she wanted for him
to hold her close

and kiss her
like he had
that first day
just a brush of lips

but he hadn't
but she had
wanted that
she can sense it now

her body warming up
by the mere thought
that he might have done
and the teacher

was droning on
about the Battle of Waterloo
his voice like a hot sun
on an overbearing day

and she wanting
a place of shade
and as she sits
the girl next

to her says
Elaine you are supposed
to be writing this down
so she fiddles

through her bag
for pen and book
all the time thinking
of John's body

and his nearness
and his eyes and words
and her attention
wanders off

like a flock
of white birds.