Version 2


Disappointed by the dampness of New Year,
enraged by boys and brave with booze,
I whack the window of a butcher's shop
friends giggle, slurring disbelief and then -
the smash is a surprise -
we whoop and squeal and run away,
through vomit-strewn streets, past fights and snogs,
delirious with power

Once I'd battered you
with useless itchy, mittened fists whilst
you'd swaddled me, cooing lullabys
distorted by the wind and spray
then trying distraction with a ship, too late,
I'd seen the windows, shattered at your feet,
the broken beach-huts peeling, scrawled with
terrifying, unknown words,
as tall as me



Version 1


Like the blackened sea I roared and
battered you with itchy, mittened fists whilst
you swaddled me, cooing mindlessly
lullabys distorted by the wind and spray
then trying distraction with a ship, too late,
I'd seen the windows, shattered at your feet,
the broken beach-huts peeling, scrawled with
terrifying, unknown words,
as tall as me

Disappointed by the dampness of New Year,
enraged by boys and brave with booze,
I whack the window of a hated shop
friends giggle, awe-struck and afraid,
the smash is a surprise,
we whoop and squeal and run away,
thorugh vomit-strewn streets, past fights and snogs,
delirious with power and
scared of no-one



Amy Mason