It's Still Life

A poem starting with a line from Geoffrey Philp’s A Fragment of the Quilt 

SOMETIMES A GIRL SCOUT

Sometimes I wonder which badge
Mum would’ve earned for raising me.

What’s a mother to do with a child
who’s a socialist, and anti-war, and
says she’s a political dissident.

Who took up smoking because shops
gave away packs of cigarettes. Free.

Who skipped high school sex-education.
It was embarrassing to see erect willies,
tits and vaginas in a co-ed classroom.

And Jesus knew to feed the masses, so
God must believe in socialised medicine.

And, I still eats my french fries
with mayonnaise. Or tartar sauce.

There’s no question – my mum was
a better Girl Scout than I was.

A poem starting with a line from
Geoffrey Philp’s A Fragment of the Quilt