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THE CHILDREN ARE CRYING

Charlie forgets in his last poster to say what Zig-Zag looks like. I mean, I didn’t either, but Charlie prides himself on accuracy. Charlie says that a strong emotional response can be achieved by an accumulation of incident, detail and fact, not flowery crap. Lean and snaky that magazine said about his poem.

I couldn’t believe Charlie didn’t do more with his poetry. It was good, went in somewhere and kind of came out again and made a difference. That’s all this Storey Institute educated girl can say, I’m sure a Grammar school boy like Charley could explain it better. He always said who’d be interested in a poem by a lino man? But I’ll tell you who - everyone is interested in being shown a new way to think.

His special poem had moved me, put a sparkle in my blood. I hadn’t seen him since we were at school together and he turned up at my unicorn lecture like that, and something went click click click, and then, there I was, reading a special poem written just for me, and getting me thinking about the days ahead, and how, in that far future, after we had kissed, we would inhabit a new planet with sounds, substances and distances beyond our imagination.

But weeks passed and nothing happened. In fact Charlie just grew more and more distant until finally he stopped coming to my lectures and I couldn’t believe it, I really didn’t know why because I thought there was a spark, and that’s what we are all searching for, the spark.

Now, fifteen years later, Charlie seems to be back at The Storey Institute, in the portico. I just wish I could be with him. But the best thing I can do is find his cat. Find Grimbles please.

THE CHILDREN ARE CRYING

You know what Charlie calls me in his blog? A Storey Institute girl. Have a look at what else he says here.