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Stlling M"nIttHtan 6rst published by Anvil Pms Poetry 1987
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Rei.sued 1006
10
Copyright C Caml Ann Duffy, '98" '987. 199". '9!H, 1999
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Contents
(t;

From ...nd.... P............. (1!J8/)
Girl Talking ;
Comprehensive
Head of English 8
Lizzie, Six 10
Education for Leisure II
I Remember Me 12.
Whoever She:; Was I;
Dear Norman 1 5
Talent 17
$ 18
Liverpool Echo 19
Standing Female Nude 2.0
Oppenheim's Cup and Saucer 2.2.
Shooting Stars 2. ;
The Dolphins 2. 5
A Healthy Meal 2.7
And Then What 2.8
From ..........nh....n (I!JBJ)
Dies Natalis 3I
TheDummy 3
6
She went ont at noon and the ghost took her heart.
From that day we were warned not to do this.
Baarh is a small red fruit. We guard our hearts.
Comprehensive
Tutumantu is like hopscotch, K wani-kwani is like hide
and-seek.
When my sister came back to Africa she could only
speak
English. Sometimes we fought in bed because she didn't
know
what I was saying. I like Africa better than England.
My mother says You will like it when we get our own
house.
We talk a lot about the things we used to do
in Africa and then we are happy.
Wayne. Fourteen. Games are for kids. I support
the National Front. Paki-bashing and pulling girls'
knickers down. Dad's got his own mini-cab. We watch
the video. I Spit on Your Grave. Brilliant.
I don't suppose I'll get a job. It's all them
coming over here to work. Arsenal.
Masjid at 6 o'clock. School at 8. There was
a friendly shop selling rice. They ground it at home
to make the evening nan. Families face Mecca.
There was much more room to play than here in
London.
We played in an old village. It is empty now.
4
We got a plane to Heathrow. People wrote to us
that everything was easy here.
It's boring. Get engaged. Probably work in Safeways
worst luck. I haven't lost it yet because I want
respect. Marlon Frederic's nice but he's a bit dark.
I like Madness. The lead singer's d e ~ d good.
My mum is bad with her nerves. She ~ ~ ~
let me do nothing. Michelle. It's just boring.
Ejaz. They put some sausages on my plate.
As I was going to put one in my mouth
a Moslem boy jumped on me and pulled.
The plate dropped on the floor and broke. He asked me
in Urdu
if I was a Moslem. I said Yes. You shouldn't be eating
this.
It's a pig's meat. So we became friends.
My sister went out with one. There was murder.
I'd like to be mates, but they're different from us.
Some of them wear turbans in class. You can't help
taking the piss. I'm going in the Army.
No choice really. When I get married
I might emigrate. A girl who can cook
with long legs. Australia sounds all right.
Some of my family are named after the Moghul
emperors.
Aurangzeb, ]ehangir, Batur, Humayun. I was born
thirteen years ago in ]helum. This is a hard school.
A man came in with a milk crate. The teacher told us
(,
to drink our milk. I didn't understand what she was
saying,
so I didn't go to get any milk. I have hope and am
ambitious.
At first I felt as if I was dreaming, but I wasn't.
Everything I saw was true.
'7
Head of Ena_lab
Today we have a poet in the class.
A real live poet with a published book.
Notice the ink stained fingers girls. Perhaps
we're going to witness verse hot from the press.
Who knows. Please show your appreciation
by clapping. Not too loud. Now
sit up straight and listen. Remember
the lesson on assonance, for not all poems,
sadly, rhyme these days. Still. Never mind.
Whispering's, as always, out of bounds
but do feel free to raise some questions.
After all, we're paying forty pounds.
Those of you with English Second Language
see me after break. We're fortunate
to have this person in our midst.
Season of mists and so on and so forth.
I've written quite a bit of poetry myself,
am doing Kipling with the Lower Fourth.
Right. That's enough from me. On with the Muse.
Open a window at the back. We don't
want winds of change about the place.
Take notes, but don't write reams. Just an essay
on the poet's themes. Fine. Off we go.
Convince us that there's something we don't know.
Well Really. Run along now girls. I'm sure
that gave an insight to an outside view.
Applause will do. Thank you
very much for coming here today. Lunch
in the h a ~ ? Do hang about. Unfortunately
I have to dash. Tracey will show you out.
9
8
LIzzIe, Six
leluoallon for Lelsur.
What are you doing?
I'1lI watching the 1lI00n.
I'll give you the moon
when I get up there.
Where are you going?
To play in the fields.
I'll give you fields,
bend over that chair.
What are you thinking?
I'1lI thinking oflove.
I'll give you love
when I've climbed this stair.
Where are you hiding?
Deep in the wood.
I'll give you wood
when your bottom's bare.
Why are you crying?
I'1lI afraid of the dark.
I'll give you the dark
and I do not care.
Today I am going to kill something. Anything.
I have had enough of being ignored and today
I am going to play God. It is an ordinary day,
a sort of grey with boredom stirring in the streets.
I squash a fly against the window with my thumb.
We did that at school. Shakespeare. It was in
another language and now the fly is in another
language.
I breathe out talent on the glass to write my name.
I am a genius. I could be anything at all, with half
the chance. But today I am going to change the world.
Something's world. The cat avoids me. The cat
knows I am a genius, and has hidden itself.
I pour the goldfish down the bog. I pull the chain.
I see that it is good. The budgie is panicking.
Once a fortnight, I walk the two miles into town
for signing on. They don't appreciate my autograph.
There is nothing left to kill. I dial the radio
and tell the man he's talking to a superstar.
He cuts me off. I get our bread-knife and go out.
The pavements glitter suddenly. I touch your arm.
II
10
. ~
First publi shed in 2009
by Faber and Faber Limited
Bloo msiJury Ho use, 74 77 Great Ru%cll Street , London we I B 3DA
TI,i s pape rback edition publi shed ill 20 I0
Dcsilrl by Mandy Norma n
Pri nt ed in England by C:PI Mackays. C hath am, Kent
All ri ght s reserved
Poems Carol An n D ufTy, 1999, !1000, 2003, 200 7,2009
Illustrat i(Jll s Alice Stevcnso n, 2009
Thc ri gh t of Carol Anll DuHy to be identified as author or thi s work, and Ali ce
Stevenson as illust ra tor of thi s work, has been assc rted in accorda nce with Secti on 77
of the Copyri ght, Designs and Patents Act 1988
A CI P record for thi s book
is available frol1l the Briti sh Libra ry
IS BN 9 780 571 21969 8
2 468 10975 3 1
for Ella with love from Mummy
'YOWlt ScJwol
Your school knows the names of places
Dhaka, Rajshahi, Sylket, Khulna, Chittagong
and where they arc.
Your school knows where rivers rise
the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Thames
and knows which seas they join.
Your school knows the height of mountains
disappearing into cloud.
Your school knows important dates,
days when history turned around
to stare the human race
straight in the face.
Your school knows the poets' names, long dead
John Keats, Rabindranath Tagore, Sylvia Plath
and what they said.
It knows the paintings hanging in the old gold frames
in huge museums
and how the artists lived and loved
dipped their bmshes in the vivid paint.
115
Your school knows the language of the world
hello, namaskar, sat sri akal, as-salaam-o-aleykum, salut -
it knows the homes of faith,
the certainties of science,
the living art of sport.
Your school knows what Isaac Newton thought,
what William Shakespeare wrote
and what Mohammed taught.
Your school knows your name
Shirin, Abdul, Aysha, Rayhan, Lauren,Jack
and who you arc.
Your school knows the most important thing to know -
you are a star,
a star.
06
mM WamiltonA 'Regi6f:e4
Grace and beauty?
Annie, here.
Eternal blossom?
Amarachi, here.
Celestial spirit?
Devashree, here.
One to admire?
Emily, here.
Light of a girl?
Ella, here.
Heaven's benevolence?
Gianina, here.
Hill near meadows?
Georgina, here.
Kind angel?
Juanaya, here.
Sea of riches?
Molly, here.
Victorious heart?
Nicola, here.
Little one?
Polly, here.
Lovely flower?
Rosie, here.
Twilight hour?
Sharvari, here.
Soft dark eyes?
Siya, here.
Thank you, girls.
Thank you, Mrs Hamilton.
Gr
~
GY
Gr
Gr
~