diphtheria

the ambulance bringing
ding a ling a ling

she can remember them ringing
them bells

it was one of the common ones
the cough
a sore throat easily contracted
diphtheria scarlet fever
five years old
the cloth stretching across the wall
my father raised a blade

the ambulance bringing

take swabs
of it the children terrified
isolation hospital
their faces
thought they’d be red
scarlet fever
diphtheria

ding a ling a ling

keeping them apart
lockjaw
didn’t talk
to em too scared
peered through a washroom window
one of the kids saw me said
I won’t tell
remember

them ringing the ambulance bringing
ding a ling a ling

them bells.

Dora Boulton, Frank Bryan, Olive Wilson
Cherry Tree 2009