School Trip to Hampton Court
The girls judged each other
on the prettiest dress,
and the whitest socks,
before we all piled into the coach.
No-one wanted to sit next to Vera
because she smelled,
and said she knew where babies came from.
We knew they didn't come from there,
so Vera sat at the very front
on the single seat.
It was Vera who was sick
just before we arrived.
The rest of us had to edge past
the vile, splashed out mess
holding our noses.
The teacher said the trip was educational
and projects had to be in by Monday.
We thought the purpose of the trip
was to get lost in the Maze.
My purpose was to get lost with John Bradley.
But first we had to do the stuff about
Cardinal Wolsey, and Henry the Eighth,
and could only do the Maze later if there was time.
My mum had dug out the old Box Brownie
and I took eight pictures by myself.
Packed lunches were inspected next.
Salad sandwiches made with sliced white bread
and salad cream were envied, also crisps,
but best of all were fizzy drinks
and Lyons individual fruit pies.
Celia came out tops again with salad
and corned beef in soft white rolls,
Seven Up, Iced Gems, and a tiny trifle
strewn with hundreds and thousands.
The rest of us had fish paste sandwiches,
and orange in discoloured plastic bottles.
The Maze was disappointing.
Someone said the trick was to keep turning left,
his Dad had said.
Or to the right, he couldn't remember which.
I kept ending up where we had started
and couldn't get lost, until finally
I heard the teacher calling,
and one threadbare hedge away
I saw Celia, right in the middle,
sitting on the bench with John Bradley.
* I won First Prize for the Project: a book token for seven shillings and six pence.
