Up There

 

 

Up there

On the stair

Is where, I sat

Listening in

Barefoot and pyjama-d

In the comforting sound of adult conversation

Six or eight voices, out of range

All the edges knocked off and muffled

 

Listening in also

For the tread, closer

And the pull of the door on the carpet

Someone coming to check the oven

A swift and quiet retreat

as the chatter bounced out into the hallway

and up the stairs after me

 

voices clear, recognisable,

overlapping each other

until the door pushes to again

the dinner checked and stirred

and I creep back down

as far as I dare,

no-man’s land beneath me

get caught there, sent back to bed

tummy-ache or can’t sleep fooling no-one

and everyone will know

 

Up there

On the stair

The bridge between sleep and grown-ups

Just sit and stay as long as you can

Until they troop out for their dinner

Younger then than I am now

 

Older and I’m there

On the stair

Creeping back in

Don’t dare wake

Who might clock the time

Miss the step that creaks

Tread the edge

Of the one that groans in the middle

Even now I know the routine

Plane tickets printed but still in the tray

Remembered at midnight for early flights

Still got the moves,

in and out

I have my own stairs now

It’s not quite so much fun

Up there