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NORTH WEST WORDS<br />
SPRING / SUMMER <strong>2018</strong> ISSUE 9<br />
Damaged Tins<br />
Twelve ninety-two forty-one<br />
my first recital at the Co-op till<br />
still trips off my tongue,<br />
a family mantra, unforgettable,<br />
twelve ninety-two forty-one,<br />
drummed into all of us by the front door<br />
<strong>and</strong> ‘don’t forget the divi’ we were told<br />
as we each became old enough, one by one<br />
to cross the busy road <strong>and</strong> h<strong>and</strong>le money.<br />
My mother had that shop terrorized,<br />
poor Mr Drain the manager<br />
would dread her coming in<br />
complaining about the wilted veg<br />
bruised apples or ‘yesterdays’ bread.<br />
Once she sent me back<br />
with a single damaged tin,<br />
‘we’ll all be poisoned by the lead leaking in’<br />
<strong>and</strong> I had to st<strong>and</strong> in front of him<br />
repeating word for word<br />
‘Mammy says …… ’<br />
8
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