Grace's Just Awake Head 1940 Poem by Terry Collett

I remember
it was after
the night dancing
and my legs ached

and we came back
Clive and I to my house
and after a few drinks
we went to bed

and I recall how alive
he made me feel
and I can distinctly
sense him entering me

and o it was so hot
and now it's dark
and my legs ache
and someone

is rubbing them
and I know it is morning
by the rush and bustle
and I am on

the hospital bed
and I'm blind
and my leg stumps
are being rubbed

by someone
a nurse
but why do I feel
so alive?

but I can't see
and feel only
half me
and I can't hold

Clive again as he died
in Dunkirk
and I sense the hands
rubbing my stumps

and the hands are soft
and the darkness
has an encroaching feel
and I want to be

and love still
but am here stuck
on this bed
with countless dreams

and thoughts
in my just awake head.