Black Hole Man(For Lyn)

We look at ourselves reflected in the gym’s glass door all tousled curls boys & girls seven or eight of us only just 7 or 8 at the most. “Go on! ” The girls dare us to yell the man into existence. We dropp our voices into the bottom of the silence & out he comes flustered as any furious spider. Our laughter runs away scatters hides itself behind cars forgets to breath. When he goes puzzled in again we repeat the procedure but even louder! We have him on a string as he comes & goes on the yo-yo of our voices to our delight & his annoyance. We yell with zeal all the dirty words we know like bum & poo & wee wee. We do it once too often and he spots our positions. Plays us at our won game dashes after us with swears & curses. The others flee in time but me clutched in a big hairy paw am held prisoner in a tightening “Ha ha...gotcha! ” He marches me by the ear through the gym corridor after corridor opens a hole in the wall stuffs me screaming in. His feet quickly evaporate in the stifling heat in a clack c l a c k c l a c k. Only silence & the dark! A black hole full of basketballs & me. He comes back after an hour to find me singing Christmas carols in July to keep the fear at bay...away. Tells a terrified me: “Let that be a lesson to you! ” Tremblingly I assure him It will be. It is. I escape into the sunshine ever so bright now & blind the others with tales of deering-do! Me! Afraid? Ha! Never! Only shaking ‘cos it is cold despite the heat tell them about my incarceration in the black hole & that the Devil talked to me but I refused to listen! sweat on my rosy cheeks glistens. Tell them I was tortured but wouldn’t give in wouldn’t spill the beans on them reveal their names ! No...sireee…not me! Mary Ann Kelly whispers near my ear “Oh you’re so brave! ” Her kiss sets fire to my head I want to burn down to the ground. The months run away into Autumn and then at the Army Christmas party Santa, sack slung over a nonchalant shoulder is ushered suddenly in stands in the door with a hollow: “ Ho! Ho! Ho! ” But before he even crosses the threshold my blood runs cold. I pale to find it is none other than the black hole man not very cleverly disguised with a patchy cotton wool beard. My fervent belief in Christmas now no more than so much shaking jelly spluttered on the floor.