The Big Untidy Magazine

EASTER 1966

Fifteen years old
I graduated into the working world.
Momentarily I avoided digging roads,
Humping boxes,
Unloading lories.
 I became a messenger for a shipping company
A glorified tea boy.

Bermondsey Street near London Bridge station
I liked the smells of the neighbouring spice warehouses,
Walking round the City of London in the snow
It snowed a lot that Easter.

My youthful feet took me all over the City
From Houndsditch to Ludgate Circus
From office to office
I enjoyed the discovery.

Then there was the typewriter that got me the sack
I had never used a typewriter before.

A trip down the Labour Exchange
And I graduated to humping boxes
Unloading lorries
In a warehouse.

Frank Bangay
May 05