February
And suddenly, we’re all artists –
a Brueghel of dark against the heavy white,
refashioning ourselves in monochrome.
Polar bears squat the fir trees.
Londoners loved up in this foam
disco. And I’ve had my fight for today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It Is Not True
that I sent the twins to school
in the same unwashed blouses all week,
that they had Weetabix for tea
every night in paper bowls,
that either Christine or Julie made me
a pot of coffee in bed every day,
that either Christine or Julie cycled
to the paper shop every morning to buy my Hello,
that Christine dusted and Julie hoovered after school.
It is not true that I can’t tell them apart.
* Katrina Naomi's pamphlet Lunch at the Elephant & Castle (2008) is available from Templar Poetry – www.templarpoetry.co.uk – and she is working on a first full length collection – The Girl with the Cactus Handshake – due to be published by Templar Poetry in October.
