Sunday 6 January 2013

Today, for the Down’s boy.


knowing that, sometime soon, you’ll both need to exit a closed door
and, outside, are hoodlums, thugs, dogs and loud bangs;
the best idea is to sit still (mum) and hope.

Andrew is humming a song from ‘Joseph’, looking around
at the TV unplugged and the Macbook (out of battery by now).
After a while, the crashes return and men bark even louder.

Andrew jumps - and shouts – you quieten him,
rising your terror from belly to throat, quivering fingers;
but he keeps rocking and singing, looking around, crooning gently

‘I closed my eyes – drew back the curtain.’ Melodic, softly,
until one big crash on the door becomes immediate ‘I closed my eyes…’
Andrew smiles, goes to the door-handle, turns it slowly.

3 comments:

  1. Very touching and very vivid. I find myself worrying - I do hope everything was okay.

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  2. What cannot soothe our fears, can soothe your Down's boy. It's just the presence of his family. Btw, it's quite scary. I hope you're fine.

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  3. Riveting piece, this is. As expressed by others, I too hope all ended well.

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