By: Michael Pollentine

Teacher

I didn’t steal the fucking cow.
Is what I wish I had said.
But,
I was four years old.
I was gentle.
I was in shock.
Shock, that I was not allowed to state my case,
That my friend went and told
Ignoring my pleas
After I showed him the cow in the lunchtime grass.
‘You naughty boy’ she said snatching the cow.
The cow.
The cow the girl across the road gave me.

###

Kind

It is only in the eyes of our own kind
That we are ever judged unequal.

###

Handle

I fixed a broken tap this morning
And felt glad.
Later in the evening
I felt sad.
I listened to some music
And felt neutral.
Music is beautiful.
As is running water.
The glass is never half full, or half empty.
It is either broken
Empty
Or full.