Things My Brother and Sister Taught Me

 

That Brazil is the capital of Europe
That triangles have six right angles
That babies come from sharing soap
That rows caused by winning games
were never worth the bother

That schools dance on taxi bonnets
in New York, never Stoke-unfamous-Trent

That, born here, we won’t live forever.

 

 

 

Jonathan Taylor‘s books include the poetry collection Musicolepsy (Shoestring Press, 2013), the novel Entertaining Strangers (Salt, 2012), and the memoir Take Me Home: Parkinson’s, My Father, Myself (Granta Books, 2007). He lectures in Creative Writing at Leicester University, and is co-director of arts organisation and small publisher Crystal Clear Creators. His website is www.jonathanptaylor.co.uk.