Sheila At Midday Recess 1962 Poem by Terry Collett

You wanted to be a nun
you even sent off for a book
about an order in Ireland,

but then that day
you saw John
in the playground,

the sun was shining
and it began to rain
and he said
Monkey's Wedding
over to you,

you smiled
and felt all funny inside
and couldn't stop
thinking of him
in class while the teacher
was talking about
some English king
and something or other,

today you saw
and spoke to him
and asked if you
could hang
around with him,

he said yes
and then you didn't
know what to say,

so listened
to him talking,

so sat there
on the grass
at midday recess,

felt all odd inside
and wanted to kiss him,
but you didn't,

you just sat there,
grabbing at his words
in the midday air.