The boys sitting in front of me
At Primary Class
I was mesmerised
By the MIDGETS
Jumping from boy to boy
A Circus of performing midgets
I could see them running dancing
Excitedly jumping up and down
Happy to rest in a boy’s hair
Every Saturday I knelt in front of my mother
My head on her lap
In her white blanket
Her fine comb
Dragging through my hair
As a farmer rakes the hay
She picked them one by one
And executed each with her nail
I could hear the thud of death
And we were free of lice
For another week.
