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When Martin was ten he buried a tin Inside he put a string
On the string he put
a washer, a key, a bead, a polo mint and a thought “If you are not dead,”
it said,
“in fifty years you should Wait on the bridge in Eynsford On our birthday
The 16th of January at midday.
Wear on your wrist the things on the string in the tin and I will tell you what they mean.”
Then he put it all in a plastic bag to keep it clean ready to bury it later.
Fifty years later Martin found the tin He had forgotten to bury in
its plastic bag with some Corgi cars Wrapped in a pair of trousers
Left by an old man just dead my Dad
He opened the lid of the tin To see if it had anything in side. The peppermint lent
the tin a scent of not now, then.
He put the cars on eBay
and threw the trousers and bag away
He put the things on the string in the tin on his wrist until later.
On the 16th January he was there in as he had said 60 years old and not yet dead
He saw myself leave the sweetshop Cross the road and on the bridge, stop
“Show him the things on the string in the tin Martin.”
…
The bead is for the tears not wept by you The washer is for the ring she left to you The key is for the secrets she kept from you
And the string is for the end she leads you to. And what about the polo mint?
Oh I have loads of those, I said, offering me another mint I had got from the sweet shop earlier.
November 24, 2014