Head of a Girl

Head Of A Girl

with her boyfriend,
in a photo booth – not quite

ready for the flash, she’s grinning
at the side of his face;

he smiles at the camera.
Top two shots from a strip of four,

marking her place
in Berlin Alexanderplatz –

a novel she hasn’t touched
for decades -boxed-up now

for Oxfam. She sets the prints
face-up on a high shelf

where she keeps bone china cups,
their slender handles stuck

back on with superglue.

‘Head Of A Girl’ was a Commended Poem in the 2019 Newcastle Poetry Competition.