She asks me <br />what it was like <br /> <br />When dinosaurs <br />were around <br /> <br />and was I not <br />scared. <br /> <br />“Oh..! ” I say <br />“I’m not that...old! ” <br /> <br />“Oh..? ” she says. <br /> <br />“How long ago <br />are you then? ” <br /> <br />I pause, & <br />hesitate: <br /> <br />as if I were <br />trying to add up <br /> <br />all the time <br />I’ve been. <br /> <br />“Oh...when I was your age <br />the earth was flat <br />& if your were to go <br /> <br />to the edge <br />of it <br /> <br />you could fall off <br />(& that was that) <br /> <br />off into empty <br />space <br />& drift all the way to the moon! ” <br /> <br />“Don’t be silly! ” <br />she says. <br /> <br />“Everyone knows <br />the earth is a balloon. <br /> <br />We did it in school <br />with Miss Lyons.” <br /> <br />And forgetting <br />the question <br /> <br />(of our respective ages) <br /> <br />she makes <br />another mudpie <br /> <br />from the grungy ground <br />& squashes it flat <br /> <br />as if she were a God <br />un-creating a Universe <br /> <br />that hadn’t <br />quite come out right. <br /> <br />“Well, it’s time <br />for tea! ” <br /> <br />she tells me <br /> <br />& takes my hand <br />in hers. <br /> <br />I follow her <br />lead <br /> <br />leaving a shattered <br />mud universe behind.<br /><br />Dónall Dempsey<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ages-for-lyn/
