January 2012
2 posts
“The lemon that I stole in Leningrad”
—
I AM NOT A POET Assembling published by VerySmallKitchen, including Memory Exchange score and poem.
http://verysmallkitchen.com/2012/01/20/i-am-not-a-poet-assembling/
The full ASSEMBLING is online here, with contributions from:
Magdalen Chua, Emma Cocker, Peter Cant & Alex Eisenberg, Jennie Guy, Colin Herd, Mirja Koponen, Shandra Lamaute, Michelle Letowska,Jow Lindsay, nick-e melville, Iain Morrison, Marit Muenzberg, Tamarin Norwood, Mary Paterson, seekers of lice, Gerry Smith, Kim Walker, andSamantha Walton.
The lemon that I stole in Leningrad
When heather kept me warm in a night where I could not find my tent
They formed a human chain
The old man had tears in his eyes
At the late age of 57
Trolleys and trams
We all used to sleep outside under the grapevines
We buried him in the garden of a special friend
He said nothing!
Seeing lightning bolts falling down to the sea
Terrified until the bottom
I am ashamed
Eventually one magical summer’s evening
Rowing out to a tiny island
Rings on the fingers, Bells on the toes
The smell of the oranges of my childhood garden
I believed it was a robin
All broken timber and flaking white paint
I now know that it was a wren
Why was I scared?
It smelled of the summer
The magic of making a new friend
Walking to a lesson across cobbles
An unexpected and happy time
I pass as straight
He stops at the turnstiles to glare
Was there some secret tunnel?
I said, ‘I was running away.’
I don’t know why
I still feel a little haunted
Tastes Wrigley’s Spearmint, smells Radox green
Until he fell on the dog
Before you left me
A glimpse of new love
She’d take me there one day
I learnt my lesson
Falling off a brick wall
Standing under a tree sheltering from heavy rain
Catching frogs amongst shopping trolleys
It was the final time
I am sliding into something
About nothing in particular
I didn’t go to jail
Nobody laughed
No one has said anything
Burnt cigarettes
I could not believe in the truth anymore
And I regret doing that
I can’t remember last night
Note: this memory may be second hand, passed to me through stories from my parents
Excerpts from memories donated to The Memory Exchange, Wednesday 10tth August 2011 at Totalkunst Gallery, Forest Cafe, Edinburgh. Memory Archivist: Mary Paterson.
