Still Burn 1964 Poem by Terry Collett

There was that time
and the time we made out
in your small room
with the sloping ceiling

and your mother
came back from shopping
just as I sat down
in the kitchen

and you were upstairs dressing
and your mother said
hello Benny how are you?
I'm fine

I said
where's Milka?
She said
O she had a call of nature

I said
want a cup of tea?
She said smiling
sure that'd be good

I replied
hoping you'd not be long
she got down three mugs
from a cupboard

and put the kettle on the stove
and spooned three spoonfuls
of tea in the pot
how long have you been here?

She asked turning
and looking at me
with her bright eyes
not long

I replied(lied)
biscuit?
She said
that'd be good

I said
she brought me the biscuit tin
and opened up for me
I chose a few

then she put the tin
on the table and walked back
to the stove with a movement
of her plump hips

and I wondered if you'd be long
looking at her motherly breasts
as she looked sideways at me
asking how my job was going

I replied to each question in turn
she not knowing how
twenty minutes before
we made love and still

at that moment burn.