I had little understanding then.
I put my clothes on the metal bars
Because they made them warm.
I liked the feeling on my skin, it tingled.

'Can I have the parka tonight?' I said.
I preferred it to the others.
It had a furry hood and tickled my face.
Sister's turn for the bed, I had the sofa's cushions.

Mum was shaping a cornflakes box,
To fit inside my shoe, to cover the hole.
But cardboard wouldn't cover the other holes,
In my socks and jeans; a patch maybe?

I wanted to move and say hello to Auntie,
But Dad just glared.
'You're not to move from there.' He had said.
But the boards through the hole were hurting my backside.

When she left I got told off,
But I didn't understand.
How could I, I was just a boy!