On the Stairs
by and published in Edition Three of Pomegranate
We played for hours with plastic animals,
chased through every room by Lego men
and cowboys, marched them up and down
the stairs, crumpled a duvet on the floor,
and in the folds moved in a herd of horses,
a flock of sheep, a pride of lions, Mother Elephant
and her calves all living peacefully side by side in
blanket caves. Dad would step over, using wall
and floor to climb over migrating animals that
roared and called as the African sun swung by.
His foot would slip, and they would scatter
as we looked on helplessly, willing them not
to have lost a leg or tail in the fall. Don’t put
them on the stairs then. I remember the way
my stomach smiled one day when he stopped
knelt down, stood each one carefully on plastic legs.
Kim Moore
Kim Moore is 26 years old and works for Cumbria Music service as a Brass Teacher. She plays the trumpet semi professionally and the best part of her job is sitting in cafes between schools and drinking cups of tea. She is excited because this is the first time she has been published and because she is still under thirty! Hurrah!