Rendezvous
after Dennis O’Driscoll
I am in Stonegate
expecting to meet you at 4
You are in The Shambles
expecting to meet me at 4
I have shopping bags that lengthen my arms
you have Jonathan on your shoulders
It’s Christmas and I’m Dreaming
blasts out from Ye Olde Starre Inn
In Giovanni’s doorway a busker sings Jingle Bells
flat cap at his feet
It is five past four
and no sign of you
It is five past four
and no sign of me
You may have forgotten your watch
I may have bumped into someone
You may be in A&E
I may be under a bus
A White Christmas
is on a loop
The busker has been moved on
flat cap on his head
You have got the front door key
I have got the supper
We must stop not meeting like this.
Carole Bromley has two pamphlets and a full-length collection, A Guided Tour of the Ice House, from Smith/Doorstop. She teaches Creative Writing at York University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning and writes a regular poetry blog for the digital magazine YorkMix. Follow her on Twitter CaroleBromley1.