What Father Did

WHAT FATHER DID

my father painted
    the toilet seat
after I'd gone to bed
    I was only six

he painted it yellow
    I wasn't to know
I cried but it was
    their laughter that hurt

Turpentine is cold
    and smells so!
He could have told
    I was only six

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Upton by Chester, 16th June 1993

Publications

1994 Green's Magazine (Canada)
1996 Q (USA)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
2005 The Spoon River Poetry Review (USA)

To Joan

TO JOAN

The flow of the river at Ilkley
was slow
but the waters
quite steadily
moved

The warmth
of the October sun
was transitory

The plot of the play
was thin
but the acting was good

You too
put up a good show

Je ne regret rein

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 1st October 1971

Publications

1973 Sonnet (UK)
1991 Prophetic Voices (USA)
2005 The Spoon River Poetry Review (USA)