I recently attended a poets workshop in the Writers Centre in Norwich, led by Helen Ivory. The theme was ‘Fact into Fiction’, the use of written facts or documents for incorporation into a new work. The following poem has subsequently been honed:
A small brown paper passport for my life
serial number BE 055643
issued by the Ministry of Food
and to be returned to any food office if carelessly lost.
The Cooperative Butchery Department at 10 Guildhall Street
is declared by the smudged blue stamp within
to be the authorised retailer of my meat.
Was it enterprise, or lack of choice
that also allowed Southgate Street Coop
to stamp its purple hold on my fats, bacon, cheese and sugar?
Nothing against eggs – did we keep chickens?
1953 to 1954, I was nine, old enough to drink tea,
but no marks on the coupons to show that I was given it,
and worse –‘Personal points sweets’- in pristine condition.
‘Do not cut out coupons – the shop keeper will do this for you’
but he was never asked!
Where is the Food Office now located?
Is it too late for my sweets or ask what can be claimed
against the page which simply states
‘Do nothing with this page until instructed’
When will I be told?
I want to claim my rights against coupons FF1 to FF10.
