Vote For Me! Poem by Dónall Dempsey

“Now, Jim’s gone...”
(she shouts above the Singer Sewing Machine)
“...I get out more.”
“I’m going to vote tonight! ”
“For years under Jim
I always voted Conservative...‘cos...he did.
Read what he read...did what he did.
Didn’t have a mind of my own.
Now, I’m going to vote...”

“Liberal? ”
I interject.
“No, dear...the Green Party.
I love the colour.”

I laugh.
She laughs too.
“I’ve learnt to laugh again! ”
“It’s like I’m a girl again! ”
“Don’t get me wrong!
I still miss the old bugger
but

I’m glad to be me
again
after all these years
And I still leave
(every week without fail)
a single red rose
on his grave! ”