You were only just sixteen
unsure and had an
Irish-East End voice
but it was he,
not you, who said
the x in gateaux
in Lions Tea House after
class

I can see your knowing peachy smile,
appalled, but somehow
oddly reassured
then holding still
his nervous hands and
feeling so grown up

Shimmying down Chenies street -
your brother's cords a home-made skirt
you were electrifying
i'm sure -
best actress in your class-
the prettiest as well

and you were easily entranced,
I bet,
by the funniest man you'd ever met,
Sinatra sealed it
in the end
for better or for worse

you shone your winning, irish smile
through years of his premieres,
affairs and scotch
to Jesus, Mary and your Ma
your offered it all up

but what if, back in forty-eight
you'd known that
one day, watching TCM alone
you'd smile and mouth the lines
he stole-
obliviously-
from
your lips?




Amy Mason