Laura Jane Lee
latecomers should report to the Guardhouse. all latecomers should then go straight to their fate. girls must wait quietly and bide their time with story books while waiting. girls must go quickly and quietly to lives held in other rooms. wants and wishes should be cleaned between periods. girls must not be absent except when ill or running out of air. a girl who feels ill and wishes to go home must inform the Head. the girl will be taken to the Office where the secretary will telephone home for the girl to be wretched. the girl will wait in the Office until she is wretched. the Check-out Slip must be signed and the girl’s name will be entered in full into the Sick Book. tongues are to be spoken as much as possible. Good Manners are expected at all waking hours. girls may dream only as far as is needed, and the amount should be kept to only what they deserve. girls should never be left unattended at the altar, at the foot of the stairs, and especially in the Changing-Room. girls are not allowed to blacken blood or tear envelopes except in an emergency. heat and desire must not be harboured or brought to fruition. each girl should have a bag for her Good Feelings and another bag for her Bad Feelings. the latter must be put away or kept tucked tidily under the collarbone. the body must be shut up properly – plaited, pinned or otherwise controlled. the heart must be small and discreet, and in white or blue with the summer uniform and blue only with the winter uniform. girls should not run through the corridors of their years. the following are out of bounds: breath. fingers. thorny things. the sky on rainy days. girls may go to the Field to practice for when they will have to run – they should circle the perimeter of the Field counter-clockwise. girls are encouraged to be outside unless it is very wet. girls are not allowed to open any windows by themselves lest they fall out. girls are not allowed to open their mouths unless there is an emergency. if it rains, girls should refrain from standing outside, looking up at the sky, fully-clothed.
Laura Jane Lee is a poet, teacher, and voiceover artist. She is an awardee of the Sir Roger Newdigate Prize, and was shortlisted for the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize. Her work has been featured in Cordite, Ambit, and Bellingham Review. She is the author of “flinch & air” (Out-Spoken Press).
andotherpoems.com 