Waterford Girl

by Paul Martin Freeman (June 2025)

for Dee Heffernan
–
She keeps her feelings quietly to herself
And makes the cappuccinos with a smile.
She takes a platter from the cupboard shelf
And fills the grill and twiddles with the dial.
–
It’s nice to see the worktop neat and tidy
With sandwiches and salad piled high;
And then she muses how tomorrow’s Friday
And gives an audible, contented sigh.
–
Such trivial things provide some consolation
For being away from Waterford for Dee;
They’re how she bears her lonely separation
From all she loves across the Irish Sea.
–
They’re how she passes time and finds some pleasure,
Allowing her relief from all the sadness;
Then Sundays let her sleep her fill at leisure
And get away at last from all the madness.
–
And yet she feels that London is her future:
It’s here she’ll see her destiny unfold.
Perhaps she’ll meet a lovely man who’ll woo her?
She doesn’t like the thought of growing old.
–
Then someone interrupts her reverie
And orders something cheesy from the grill.
He’s got an allergy to celery:
It turns him blue and makes him deathly ill!
–
She muses on this terrifying reaction
Which lets her put aside her usual cares;
And glad of any momentary distraction,
She takes a cloth and heads towards the chairs.
–

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