10

That children's game we once played
     scissors glass stone
          some bend, some break

Write words on paper
     wrap them round a stone
          throw them at the scissors

Or scribe the words on glass
     throw *that* at the scissors
          a different game

Poor sad scissors, they never win
     but it's easier
          when you play by the same rules

<<<

19

palm, finger-V, fist

When they opened the book in 1974 it was revealed the headmaster had used six different canes throughout each day on palms, knuckles, forearms, upper arms, backs, backsides and thighs, though not recorded in the book were the other objects used to beat children - rulers, board rubbers, slippers, planks of wood, fists, brussel sprout stalks - on cheeks, side of the head, back of the head, lower back, backside, thighs.

Palowski and Rooney appeared on nearly every page and a cut in Palowski's palm didn't heal for weeks. Both boys suffered hard times at home and were thus further hardened by the headmaster's correction.

A decade later, just out of a spell in Fulbourn, I happened upon Rooney in a cafe. We recalled the school. "Best years of my life," he said, adding: "Do you remember that game we used to play...?"

paper, scissors, stone