The House in Highgate

Poetry by Ann Perrin - Poems read by the Author.

Listen to Ann’s poem The House in Highgate now – just press on the link below.

https://annperrinpoetry.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/006-thehouseinhighgate.mp3

The House in Highgate

Peter Pan had a lot to answer for!
We were always sliding down the polished
banisters and leaping off at the last minute
in our everlasting efforts to fly.

We spent half our lives on the stairs,
creating stories about the paintings
that hung from floor t ceiling in the hall.

Listening to the chip-chip-chipping
of the wood in father’s workshop,
as he made his marionettes
The whizz and whirr of mother’s Singer
sewing seams for debutants dresses.

Real boredom had us mimicking
arguments outside auntie and uncles door.
Mother would have had a fit is she had known
as we rushed and locked ourselves in the lavatory.

Auntie advanced demanding apologies.
Too late, we were balanced on the pan
and then leaping out of the tiny window
into the security of the garden.

How I loved that house.