With Helen At The Fairground. Poem by Terry Collett

Some fairground
by the coast
taken by the Baptist mission
by coach

and outside
some magic mirror tent
after having gone in
you said to Helen

not much in there to see
and the fairground guy
having overheard you said
not much to see?

come here and see again
and he took you
in the tent again
and showed you

how you looked
in front
of the various mirrors
in some you were thin

and tall and in another
you were broad
and fat or you were
squat as if someone

had sat on you
and squashed you flat
and you laughed at that
and the guy said

see there is much to see
so go tell your girlfriend
so you went out
of the tent

and said to Helen
yes it was good
the second time around
and Helen said

perhaps we should
go in together
and so you paid the guy
the money

and you went in
with her and stood
together in front
of the mirrors

and laughed
and she held
your hand
and you remembered

the guy saying
tell your girlfriend
and you guessed
she was

and that made
you feel happy
even schoolboys
of 10 years old

sometimes want girlfriends
secretly endeared
away from the sight
or knowledge

of other boys
as if it were some kind
of betrayal
of the schoolboy code

and as you walked
about the fairground
you watched
where others

on racing
wooden horses rode.