Living On Three Continents: Thank Heaven For Cheques
Oh the things a woman thinks of when she's in that bank queue.
Susan Siddeley presents an engagingly confessional poem.
To read more of Susan's articles and poems please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/living_on_three_continents/
I’m tense as weft thread in winter
waiting in line at the bank
a dental appointment in ten minutes
a Jumbo shop and Gordon’s supper to think of
For crying out loud get a move on
You can’t go on a coffee break now!
I’d scream Fuego if I thought it would help
I settle for scratching my head - vigorously
Hair lice get top news billing in Chile
I zip up my bag, stare at the ceiling and find myself in
in the Sistine chapel, gaping at Botticelli’s angels
inhaling saints, mouldy pillars, cold paint
Converted Chilean mansions make fine banks
The cheek, someone’s pushed in front
I’d kick her but Adam’s watching
I need a bathroom
I lock legs... Only two to go
A new man appears
opens a wicket, surveys the scene.
I’ve seen him before
In Cinemascope and Technicolor
crossing Oklahoma, The Alps, The Red Sea
Hair, black and curly. Teeth, white and plentiful
Eyes obscenely obsidian
He beckons. Me? I leap forward, offering my card
and his eyes marry mine as if I’m his first customer. Eve r
Como puedo... How may I help you?
By coming home with me ... I mean, I need another cheque book
He raises a hand to straighten his halo
pulls out a pad. Vuelve en dos semanas, Susssan
Two weeks. Eternity. I turn away, shoulders sweeping the floor tiles
Damn ... I should have asked about ... about ... about opening a ...
I swivel, rejoin the queue
dreams big as Aconcagua running through my head
