Brute Swan

Dormitory Ghosts

After lights-out here they come
in unwieldy crocodile.

The girl who claimed she saw
God’s face in a digestive biscuit.

The girl who went to Matron
suffering from stigmata.

The girl who believed
she was Mary Magdalen.

The girl who drew a moustache
in charcoal on the Virgin Mary.

Then comes the one expelled
for climbing out of the window

to meet the caretaker’s son.
The one who scratched a rude word

on the music-room piano, keeping us
all in detention until she confessed.

The one who feared
she’d immaculately conceived

and was pregnant with a frog.
Last in line everyone’s heroine -

the head prefect who heard voices
telling her to set fire to the school.

Yew Tree Press poetry pamphlets cost £5 each or £10 for any 3. (Including postage within UK.)
Payment by cheque or BACS transfer. Email your order by clicking here.

Jennie Farley's poems describe from an intriguing viewpoint a version of her schooldays which has a disturbing ring of truth. "Great to see Jennie Farley's sly and unsettling school poems" - David Clarke Now available through our Big Cartel page.

Dormitory Ghosts After lights-out here they come in unwieldy crocodile. The girl who claimed she saw God’s face in a digestive biscuit. The girl who went to Matron suffering from stigmata. The girl who believed she was Mary Magdalen. The girl who drew a moustache in charcoal on the Virgin Mary. Then comes the one expelled for climbing out of the window to meet the caretaker’s son. The one who scratched a rude word on the music-room piano, keeping us all in detention until she confessed. The one who feared she’d immaculately conceived and was pregnant with a frog. Last in line everyone’s heroine - the head prefect who heard voices telling her to set fire to the school. Yew Tree Press poetry pamphlets cost £5 each or £10 for any 3. (Including postage within UK.) Payment by cheque or BACS transfer. Email your order by clicking here.