{"id":653,"date":"2010-04-29T10:52:03","date_gmt":"2010-04-29T10:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=653"},"modified":"2010-04-29T10:52:03","modified_gmt":"2010-04-29T10:52:03","slug":"caroline-gilfillan-remembers-mrs-myers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/caroline-gilfillan-remembers-mrs-myers\/","title":{"rendered":"Caroline Gilfillan remembers Mrs Myers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><meta name=\"Title\" content=\"\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Keywords\" content=\"\"><br \/>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"ProgId\" content=\"Word.Document\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Generator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 2008\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Originator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 2008\">\n<link rel=\"File-List\" href=\"file:\/\/localhost\/Users\/helenivory\/Library\/Caches\/TemporaryItems\/msoclip\/0\/clip_filelist.xml\">\n<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <o:OfficeDocumentSettings>\n  <o:AllowPNG\/>\n <\/o:OfficeDocumentSettings>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <w:WordDocument>\n  <w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>\n  <w:TrackMoves>false<\/w:TrackMoves>\n  <w:TrackFormatting\/>\n  <w:PunctuationKerning\/>\n  <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt<\/w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>\n  <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt<\/w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>\n  <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0<\/w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>\n  <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0<\/w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>\n  <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>\n  <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>\n  <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>\n  <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>\n  <w:Compatibility>\n   <w:BreakWrappedTables\/>\n   <w:DontGrowAutofit\/>\n   <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables\/>\n   <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx\/>\n  <\/w:Compatibility>\n <\/w:WordDocument>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"276\">\n <\/w:LatentStyles>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><\/p>\n<style>\n<!--\n \/* Font Definitions *\/\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:Calibri;\n\tpanose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;\n\tmso-font-charset:0;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-pitch:variable;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\np.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{mso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmargin:0cm;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-fareast-language:EN-GB;}\n@page Section1\n\t{size:595.3pt 841.9pt;\n\tmargin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt;\n\tmso-header-margin:35.4pt;\n\tmso-footer-margin:35.4pt;\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.Section1\n\t{page:Section1;}\n-->\n<\/style>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 10]>\n\n\n<style>\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\ntable.MsoNormalTable\n\t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";\n\tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\n\tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\n\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;\n\tmso-para-margin:0cm;\n\tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}\n<\/style>\n\n\n<![endif]--><br \/>\n<!--StartFragment--><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><b style=\"\">Mrs Myers<o:p><\/o:p><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">Squat, with a trace of a moustache, you crinkle<\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">currant eyes as you hand back my essay <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">about foolish Othello on a sticky lemon afternoon. <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">Stumpy, hair bristling with brains, <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">in a voice like burnt toast you broadcast <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">no-nonsense advice to the lower sixth: <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><i style=\"\">Don\u2019t work on<br \/>\nSaturdays for Timothy Whites<o:p><\/o:p><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><i style=\"\">Don\u2019t sell your youth<br \/>\nfor nineteen and nine<o:p><\/o:p><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><i style=\"\">You\u2019ll never get it<br \/>\nback again<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span><o:p><\/o:p><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">Mrs Myers, I take home what you say. <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">Parrot it to my red-cheeked mother, who pauses <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">from her assault on the aluminium pots and pans,<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">lifts her nose and sniffs, as if she can scent <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">your odour of chalk, rose talc and something <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">musty, like a trunk left too long in the loft.<\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">I didn\u2019t know you\u2019d vanish soon after <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">I left the perfume counter.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>Mrs Myers <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">you gave me a push, a nudge.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>See how far <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">I\u2019ve come along the uneven path, <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">passing the ducklings scudding the ditch<\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">while you\u2019re still wearing those wooden beads, <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">that too-long cardigan, still holding <\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\">a pile of books wedged under one withered arm.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><i style=\"\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><\/span><\/span><\/font><br \/><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">* Caroline Gilfillan<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"> is a<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"> fiction writer, poet, and dramatist<\/span><\/font><font style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" size=\"2\"> and lives in North Norfolk.&nbsp; <\/font><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">Her poem <\/span><span style=\"font-style: italic; font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"italic\">The Painter<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"> was nominated  for the<br \/>\nForward Prize for the best individual poem in 2007&nbsp;<\/span><\/font><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">and in the same year she was selected for the<br \/>\nEscalator scheme for fiction writers.<\/span><\/font><font style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" size=\"2\">&nbsp; She has just published &#39;Yes&#39; a poetry pamphlet (Hawthorn Press). <a href=\"http:\/\/www.carolinegilfillan.co.uk\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">http:\/\/www.carolinegilfillan.co.uk\/<\/span><\/a><\/font><\/div>\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mrs Myers &nbsp; Squat, with a trace of a moustache, you crinkle currant eyes as you hand back my essay about foolish Othello on a sticky lemon afternoon. &nbsp; Stumpy, hair bristling with brains, in a voice like burnt toast you broadcast no-nonsense advice to the lower sixth: &nbsp; Don\u2019t work on Saturdays for Timothy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prose-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}