I don't seem to be able to stop writing at the moment so sorry to bother you
all but here is another
Nanny and the gas mantle
“We’re going electric” she declared
and pulled the mantle down to light
watched the yellow skulk
across the ceiling, walls
faces laugh in whitewashed cracks
heard a hiss uncurl around the room
the firelight flare with added glee
Her rolled up sleeves showed thin brown arms
bright blue veins which throbbed
against her wrists
Her lips the tallor of coal tar, chirped
“Tomorrow I will press a switch”
then pushed the pipe up to the rose
sniffed hard, then sat me on her knee
Next night, another light enhanced the room
but the gassy smell still hung around the house
clung to curtains, books and chairs
and nanny too as she wondered
at the spark within the glass
that swayed upon a twist of flex
and dangled like a captured star.
sally james
As if the furniture had absorbed it
and each swirl of the net curtains
sent wafts around the room
even her books wouldn’t let go
and saturated the pages.
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