Early Days In School

Me, a big-eyed, freshly hatched boy,

An un-processed, open-ended book.

Music shivering quietly in my chest.

Scuttling inside with chirping children.

Mum at the gate, her kiss on my head.

My feet flurry through the rumpus,

To my room, my desk – a crow’s nest.

Sitting alone – afraid to reach, to grab.

Afraid to be seen, or ask to be heard:

Rhymes pitter-pattering in my chest.

My small hand scratching words,

Smudging dots down to blotches.

Then smoothing-out paper folds,

Spoiling pages and scraps with blots:

Learning letters, matching sounds.

Crunching, cooing and spitting sounds

Like our suckling calf nudging the teat.

Like the crows squabbling for sticks.

Like our hens clucking at word-seeds.

Like my sister burbling in her pram.

Grunting and snorting through pages:

Fidgeting, wriggling and squirming,

Like a fly on muck, a worm on a hook.

Like the goose honking me down the lane.

Like the donkey calling from the back field.

I’m itching, twitching, going outside:

Flying like dandelion seeds in the wind.

A dancing kite chasing bubbles,

Fluttering, giggling through open sky –

Un-tethered, whirling, scrambling.

Shouts falling from my rickety-rumpty,

Un-kempt, babbling, jumping mouth.

Playing marbles, conkers, yo-yos’,

Hula-hoops sparking football battles –

‘On it! Got it! Clear off! No way!’

Falling, cutting elbows, heads: what of it?

Rolling with the shoves, giving plenty.

Then the swinging handbell calls us back –

Feet to lines, hands to trouser hems.

The sky collapses back to stippled-grey.

The boy in front leading by paces:

No words, no scooting, no busty eyes.

No dodging, no trips, no turning heads.

Back inside, sitting straight, eyes front:

A little bird pecking in my chest.

My hands are ready to work, and

Her voice laps, like sighing waves

Sliding gently over sand and shingle,

Tinkling, trickling water in the sheugh:

A mouse sleeping in my chest.

She goes to the piano, sits, and plays.

Without telling, we gather around her –

The carpet feels warm on my legs.

And she sings, and we sing.

And she laughs, and we laugh.