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A cup of tea and a little pill

every morning before school

always and always grateful

white plastic wired to pink plastic

in a glass by the cup

school holidays

overcast and threatening

the tea too strong or the wrong pill

a sudden apparition

shining faced stick doll

grinning and groaning

wet-faced clenched juddering

the howl of five around the house

the gravity of ten demanding silence

this happened in our presence

this happened in our absence

white plastic wired to pink plastic

the wet face of fifteen

dripping on the dry face of ten

afterwards no cup of tea and no little pill

the floor not fit to have a fit on

and never any breakfast

and sticking to the bed perhaps

(a bit of cheap self-analysis)

unwilling to face the day

without a cup of tea

and a little pill