school september-new.
first day man
got bus pass from shop boy
ran
hungry pig
to bus stop.
boy not calm –
man reckon man cool –
slick matte black bus pass holder
sticking
to sweat-palm, boy,
man get
each step
older.
nervous
excited wreck.
run
wild hog
to bus stop.
man flash
bus pass
to girl on street.
no stray silver 40p
for clown’s single
weigh down pocket
today, see?
no paper ticket, raas.
man swift
with bus pass.
look what
man got
here, girl.
man reckon man cool.
boy took seven buses to school.

You woke in the night to tell me that it had snowed,
and that I was the snow,
then you went back to sleep.

It was cold, and so in bed, arm around you
I pressed my heart into your back,
so ours were as close
as the snow and the earth.

In the morning, at the window,
I saw in your garden,
the white dazzle making mysteries
of commonplace things.

But the beauty of the day
could not disguise,
the wet fade I now knew was to come
when the weather changed.