Has-Beens

By Florence Heyhoe
Warrenpint, County Down, Northern Ireland

If this town were a set of teeth I would recommend a visit to the dentist for it is full of gaps. However, the hotel on the main street sparkles like a polished molar, after a recent renovation. It seems out of place amidst this yawning emptiness.

The people I knew as a child long dead: the school teacher who beat and threatened the children, the grocer brothers in their brown coats … who were fond of young boys, the man, from the tick tock shop where the musty smell lingered.

Many buildings that were once businesses have been demolished. There is a library where the church used to be and the mission hall has been converted to housing. The pharmacy  where my father worked now dispenses fish and chips. 

So many nightmares…trying to escape.

vacant eyes —
celandine spreading
after winter

First Published: cattails April 2024


Resources

Northern Ireland Domestic/Sexual Abuse Resources
Hotline for men who have suffered sexual abuse https://www.survivorsuk.org/
Also see, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, available on Amazon

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