Smithereens Press Chapbooks 'The Night Ahead' by Tom French | Page 11

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I am trying to make out the crane driver ’ s face through two panes of glass , a sealed vacuum filled with colourless gas , a sheet of tinted perspex through which two tubes enter , as though the room itself were on oxygen .
“ Jesus , don ’ t take her now . Not while the children are still small . Give her a few years free of the misery ” - I pray to the man in the crane .
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When we slip out for an early bird she pulls her sleeve discreetly down to conceal the wristlet that bears her name and DOB , which leaves me picturing her in her first weeks .
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To the legendary TV memory man who passes while we eat and smiles , she tells me after , she was on the verge of saying , “ You that has the great memory , do you remember me ?”
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