New Poem: Curtains

There was a kind of curtain or drape. Well,

two actually. I was wearing a jumper and

pushed myself through the gap between

the two curtains. There had been times when

people wanted to keep the two curtains

closed. They had sewn velcro all down the

edges of the curtains. As I pushed through,

I was attacked by the velcro. It grabbed my

jumper, down the sleeves and across my

chest. I lifted my arm and pulled it down again

quickly but the velcro stuck. The curtain

swelled up around me and into my face. I

turned round and the curtain wrapped me up.

The velcro sealed me in. I wrenched my head

back. The curtain folded over my face. I

felt my feet taking off from the floor. I lay

in mid-air and waited for someone to come

and help me. I thought, if I lie very still, I’ll

be able to breathe through the curtain that

was lying across my mouth. My arms were

tight next to my sides. The less I move, I

thought, the less I’ll need to breathe. I

listened.