Jo Hemmant’s shed

 

Chaperone

 
Tipsy on a swig of Cinzano and lemonade,
you watch the local hunk
 
send halos of smoke
to the ceiling of his garden shed –
 
his left hand in your mate’s lap
like a cat; like opportunity.
 
He passes you his soggy roll-up;
you can’t reel your smile in fast enough
 
and as the Sex Pistols shriek
‘Frigging in the Rigging’, he moves in
 
for the kill, the lyrics as daring
as him squeezing the 34Cs
 
you’d give anything to have.
She doesn’t object.
 
The words enough’s enough
lounge around in your throat.
 
 

Jo Hemmant lives in rural Kent with her husband and two sons. In late 2010 she founded Pindrop Press, a boutique poetry press. Her own poems have appeared in anthologies and magazines and won prizes in various competitions. Her first collection, The Light Knows Tricks, is available from Doire Pres.