{"id":302,"date":"2016-08-20T17:11:43","date_gmt":"2016-08-20T17:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/?p=302"},"modified":"2019-08-05T12:10:18","modified_gmt":"2019-08-05T12:10:18","slug":"two-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/?p=302","title":{"rendered":"Two Tales \u2013 Two Views"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not Once (her tale)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I used to watch you in school<\/p>\n

I would linger at Foch Avenue
\nto wait for your bus to arrive
\nI would follow you up the hill
\npast Merdeka Stadium to school<\/p>\n

And when we lined up before class
\nI would place myself where
\nyou were in my line of sight<\/p>\n

In class
\nI sat behind you
\nIn the library
\nI sat at your table
\nIn the canteen
\nI watched you eat<\/p>\n

During school assemblies
\nI would gaze at you from the balcony
\nwhile we all sang the school song<\/p>\n

On Speech Day
\nI watched you
\nfrom the wings of the stage
\nwhile you performed<\/p>\n

On Sports Day
\nI would stand at the Pavilion steps
\nto have a clear view of you
\nracing down the track
\nhitting the tape in victory
\nI would cheer myself hoarse<\/p>\n

At the School Dance
\nat the end of our school year
\nI put on some powder
\nsome rouge on my cheeks
\na touch of lip gloss
\nmascara and some perfume
\nI brushed my hair to a sheen<\/p>\n

I waited
\nbut you never asked me to dance<\/p>\n

You never noticed me
\nNot once<\/p>\n

The Stalker (his tale)<\/strong><\/p>\n

She used to stalk me in school<\/p>\n

My bus would arrive at Foch Avenue
\nand she would be there
\npretending to adjust her hair
\nor straighten her skirt
\nshe would follow me up the hill
\npast Merdeka Stadium to school<\/p>\n

And when we lined up before class
\nshe would be glancing
\nsurreptitiously in my direction<\/p>\n

In class
\nshe sat behind me
\nIn the library
\nshe sat at my table
\nIn the canteen
\nfrom the corner of my eye
\nI could see her watching me eat<\/p>\n

During school assemblies
\nshe stood at the front row of the balcony
\nwhile we sang the school song
\nand I could feel her eyes upon me<\/p>\n

On Speech Day
\nwhen I recited my lines on stage
\nI caught a glimpse of her
\nstanding in the wings<\/p>\n

On Sports Day
\nwhen I came last in the 100 yards
\nshe embarrassed me
\nby cheering at the top of her voice
\nfrom the Pavilion steps<\/p>\n

At the School Dance
\nat the end of our school year
\nshe put on too much makeup
\nAll night she fixed her eyes on me
\nShe glared at me when I took my place
\nin line for a dance with Penny Chang<\/p>\n

I avoided her all night<\/p>\n

After Sixth Form
\nI moved to Australia to escape her<\/p>\n

I succeeded \u2013 until yesterday<\/p>\n

When I boarded the 19 tram at Flinders Street
\nI saw her sitting across the aisle
\nShe smiled and gave me a wink<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not Once (her tale) I used to watch you in school I would linger at Foch Avenue to wait for your bus to arrive I would follow you up the hill past Merdeka Stadium to school And when we lined up before class I would place myself where you were in my line of sight In class I sat behind you In the library I sat at your table In the canteen I watched you eat During school assemblies I would gaze at you from the balcony while we all sang the school song On Speech Day I watched you from the wings of the stage while you performed On Sports Day I would stand at the Pavilion steps to have a clear view of you racing down the track hitting the tape in victory I would cheer myself hoarse At the School Dance at the end of our school year I put on some powder some rouge on my cheeks a touch of lip gloss mascara and some perfume I brushed my hair to a sheen I waited but you never asked me to dance You never noticed me Not once The Stalker (his tale) She used to stalk me in school My bus would arrive at Foch Avenue and she would be there pretending to adjust her hair or straighten her skirt she would follow me up the hill past Merdeka Stadium to school And when we lined up before class she would be glancing surreptitiously in my direction In class she sat behind me In the library she sat at my table In the canteen from the corner of my eye I could see her watching me eat During school assemblies she stood at the front row of the balcony while we sang the school song and I could feel her eyes upon me On Speech Day when I recited my lines on stage I caught a glimpse of her standing in the wings On Sports Day when I came last in the 100 yards she embarrassed me by cheering at the top of her voice from the Pavilion steps At the School Dance at the end of our school year she put on too much makeup All night she fixed her eyes on me She glared at me when I took my place in line for a dance with Penny Chang I avoided her all night After Sixth Form I moved to Australia to escape her I succeeded \u2013 until yesterday When I boarded the 19 tram at Flinders Street I saw her sitting across the aisle She smiled and gave me a wink<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[33,31,32,22,39,30,65],"class_list":["post-302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-poems","tag-donaldlee","tag-donaldllee","tag-emagines","tag-blognybox","tag-emagines-org","tag-poems","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=302"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":471,"href":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions\/471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emagines.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}