Bluecoat, Now and Then by Julie Swallow

Sipping coffee, Sucking small sweet caramel chocolate squares I think of skinny, malnourished boys Dipping grey stale bread in tepid broth I worry when writing the right words escapes me Where boys longing for escape were whipped for less

Talent surrounds this table topped with treats I consider how small boys were treated here before Bluecoat Boys detached from families Whilst we connect with “the facts” That their lives were not their own But we are enhancing ours