mam
she wrote ‘shagetti’ on the shopping list
oh, how we laughed
brushed her teeth with Immac
mistaken for toothpaste
and wore slippers all night
in bed to make us titter
shoplifted from the corner shop
swore at strangers at bus stops
her party trick was playing possum
on the kitchen floor
she wore gaudy market earrings
my only souvenir of her
kept in a box, but I will
throw them out, one day
and remember that ruined Christmas
our queen had her annus horribilis?
I held her hand
pin-pointing moments she slipped away
she wrote shagetti on her shopping list
Elaine Findlay