What Colour Soul

Miss Snoot sat
in the front of the class
near the teacher’s desk
next to the short blonde girl

with the large blue eyes
Reynard said
never seen a girl so thin
I bet she’s titless

you looked up front
from your place
at the back
studying the narrow frame

the thin arms
the lank black hair
down to her bony shoulders

Reynard talked on
his description getting more lewd
as he went on
spoken in an under breath
so the teacher wouldn’t hear

over the Beethoven
she was playing
on the piano
to the class as part

of the lesson
you mused
on Miss Snoot’s hands
held together
her elbows on the desk
her eyes closed
her pale features
giving hint

of distant meditation
and Reynard wondering
what colour
her underwear

what hue
her pubic hair
but you seeing
a slight sway

of her head
the hair in slow
movement and motion
wondered what dreams

she had
what place
she occupied inside her head

how soft
her heart might be
what colour her soul
on that inward sea.

Cocker Spaniel at Grandmother’s House

At your grandmother’s house
on the stairs
there was a statue
of a cocker spaniel

medium sized
with bright eyes
that seemed
to follow you

up and down
the staircase
brown
and white

and cream
with that stiff tail
which didn’t wag
and you patted

its head
as you went by
or listened
to see if it breathed

or if you tapped its nose
it might bark
and as it didn’t
you imitated
a child’s bark

and Gran called out
what that’s noise Benedict?
you playing

with that dog statue again?
no Gran
you replied
just got a cough

and you went by
the cocker spaniel
giving it a cold stare
and down

in the passage afterwards
you imagined the dog
would follow you down
wagging the stiff tail

giving you
the bright eyed stare
but it didn’t come
it just stayed there

icy cool
sans bark
sans waggy tail
and Gran called

come on Benedict
come down now.

© Terry Collett

Terry Collett has been writing poetry since 1971 and prose since 1995 and stage plays in 2005. He is married with 8 children and 8 grandchildren and lives in West Sussex, England. He had two slim volumes of poems published in the 1970s; they are now long since out of print. He has had numerous poems and stories published online and in hard copy magazines since 2004. His main ambitions are to have a book of his poetry and stories published and to see one of his plays performed.

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