Hannah And Tower Bridge 1960 Poem by Terry Collett

I knocked at Hannah's door
her mother opened it
and I asked if Hannah was in
she looked at me as if

I'd suggested something impolite
Hannah th' boy's haur
she bellowed over her shoulder
I took in her fiery eyes and turbaned head

her dark hair tucked away beneath
Hannah came to the door
where shall we go
she asked

so I can tell Maw?
What about Bermondsey docks
I can show you my school
then see Tower Bridge?

We're gonnae see Tower Brig
Hannah said to her mother
awe rite be cannie
her mother replied

so we walked off from her flat
and got a bus to Bermondsey
(my mother had given me coins
she was a kind soul)

sitting together in the front
watching the scenes go by
nothing spectacular
just London sights

and people passing
and vehicles going by
we held hands
moving to the motion

of the bus
her hand was warm
our fingers entwined
once we arrived

I showed her my school
(she went to a girls' school
nearer to home
her mother insisting no boys)

it looks a bit Dickensian
Hannah said
it is and even the teachers
are old as grime

she laughed and we walked on
to see Tower Bridge
and walked across to the other side
then had pop drinks in a small cafe

and shared a slice of cake
and sat and talked
I don't think your mother likes me
I said

o she doesn't like males full stop
not just you Benedict
men ur blecht
she tells me and my dad

what's that mean?
I asked her
means men are a blight
like a disease

she laughed
and sipped her tea
I sipped mine
smiling away

hoping that she
(like her mother
Mrs Scot)
never included me.