My tuck box was blue and had two catches
like an ammo box, secured with a pad lock
and containing all that I now owned in the world.
You were allowed to accompany me to the
windowless bare study smaller than our
downstairs loo, which I was to share with Henn,
until it was time to shake hands, tight lipped
as I watched you walk away along the corridor
and back to the real world that you owned.
In a very short time I’d shut the pad lock key inside
and to my shame you were summoned from sherry
with the house master and armed with a pair of pliers
you forced the lock with a shaking hand and I think
I knew then, that this was hard for you too and I cried
for the first time, and didn’t want you to go again.
John H Davies
4th July 2011
