Gold Stars and Lollies

Loved to write my little
stories, even then. If
they were good
enough, you got a
gold star, or even
a lolly pop; the lollies,
we would steal, at
times when no reward
was due. Free lollies,
and interest-free credit with
Mummy can't be bad. In those days,
sitting on a comparatively
comfy purple chair was
a privilege - an honour. Sand
pits, dolls, and
bears could bring such joy. I still
love teddy bears today. We
learned to play recorders,
in the juniors, as you
do. Recorder rallies of
"London's Burning". Remember?
What a racket! Even assemblies could
be rather fun; we took turns
to perform class plays. PE
was never easy, but
rounders, out of school, was
not so bad. Not
so serious. Didn't really
let anyone down so
much by
being crap. After that,
we went up to the
"big school",
and there I got completely lost. I'm
still trying to find
the escape route,
at twenty-eight years of
age. Tell me: Am I getting warm?

Paula Puddephatt

First published in Panda Quarterly Poetry Magazine, in 2002