Caroline Street
Curry and chips?
Mmmmmmmm
Queue
Shove
Push
Fight
Coppers
Cell
You’ve had your chips
Tanked for the memories
Down and out on all-day bender
I recognise your voice
Before I even turn round.
“Oi, nutter!” you call
“Pint of lager and lime and a packet of cheese and onion?”
It’s as though we saw each other yesterday –
Not fifteen years ago.
We drink and laugh
At funny things we did together,
Talk of the places where we used to mosh –
All of which demolished now,
Replaced by the New Cardiff,
A place we can’t afford to live.
We reminisce about the music we loved
Now called “old skool”
And the musicians we wanted to be
Now called “veteran rockers”
And feel old. And long to go back
And listen to Anthrax.
You laugh at the make-up I wore
And joke that my skirts resembled belts
And mock my taste in boys.
You seem to remember everything about me
Except one crucial thing –
“Why did we stop being friends?” you ask
I pretend I can’t remember
I don’t want this good day ruined,
But you had a new girlfriend called Donna
Who didn’t like the fact that you had female friends.
When I phoned you, upset, you asked me not to call again
For fear of upsetting Donna. Fifteen years have passed.
I’m glad you didn’t end up with her
And that your new woman has no problem
With you having female friends.
Theoretically, we could be friends again,
Realistically, I can’t be arsed.
But thanks for the beers, Neil.
• Amanda Weeks lives in Pontypridd, South Wales with husband Carlos, four-year-old son Travis and a cat called Rita. She began writing eight years ago when, at 27, she decided to pack in her job as a collector, invent a pile of A levels and study creative writing and drama at university. She has had several short stories published in anthologies. She has written for several music magazines. Her Welsh-language screenplay Catastroffi was broadcast on S4C in 2006, and she's had a further two screenplays optioned to Tornado Films. She recently came third in the Welsh Poetry Competition. She is currently writing a novel, and is adding to her poetry and short story collections. She is currently working as a supply teacher at Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni. Previously, she's worked as a drama tutor and as an actress. This is her first appearance on IS&T.
