3

today was a horrible day

     when sarah found herself
               materialised in a park
     soft green slightly wet grass and ants
she found a place to sit
     to try and read more of her serious book

but then this man appeared
     a man with an angry red face

stared at her
     addressed her politely

     and while she was struggling
          with that hot furball of speech
the man’s face got redder
                angrier
until he started to scream at this girl who wouldn’t acknowledge their rules of talking

his two feet firmly planted in the soil
     throwing those earhurting packets of hate into her face
     with words she could almost make out

later
     when she appeared again
          walking down a main road in the city
she kept looking over her trembling shoulder
to make sure that righteous man of hate had not reappeared

he would move on to stalk her days
continuing to push her inability up into her face