If I crayon the word sun upon the page
The rain might stop and I’ll go out to play with my friends
Two Kevins and a Michael
Eliane and Joyce and Daryl
Although we didn’t think of each other as friends
We were a confederation, created by our neighbourhood
Bounded by two railway bridges and a row of factories
One of them made machinery that made machinery
Another of them engineered things
Plus a mill, that dominated
We never asked the darker purpose
But our mothers cleaned the offices in the evenings
When they’d done the washing up
And put away the dishes before they put their feet up
Friends came later
In the playground or the classroom
One of them I made came all the way from Glossop
.