London Daze.
When phones were plug in things.
They came in black or white…
and sometimes red.
I’d left my husband then…
Moved from leafy suburb
to the grim East End…
(as it was then)
Where I had friends.
Two up …two down…
A little house with leaking roof
and outdoor lav..
And nosey next door Sophie
….always alert.
Head popping over the fence.
‘Are you sweeping out your yard?
Or putting washing out?’
‘Just going in was my reply’
and fled.
Brow beaten husband Joe
would sidle down the yard,
Sit on his throne, locked in
the outdoor lav….just to escape.
He’d read cut up newspapers,
meant for the wipe.
But that ploy rarely worked.
‘You out there again?’
Sophie would call.
The silence from the lav.
would split a stone.
‘Come in for heaven’s sake
You’ve been out there far too long.
Your tea is getting cold.’
When phones were plug in things.
They came in black or white…
and sometimes red.
Kristine Byrne…7pm 12 Nov 2018