She caught the school bus
every day,
Margaret Kennedy,
plain and pigeon-toed.
She chose the same seat
behind the driver
(we liked to sit up the back) .
She'd bury her face in a book,
hiding her freckles under her hat.
She was a school prefect -
a real goody-goody -
who always wore her gloves
and 'reported' us
when we didn't.
She sometimes sucked sweets
which she'd smuggle
surreptitiously
from gloved hand to mouth.
Margaret was a loner -
aloof and without friends.
She was older than us
and we were all a bit scared of her.
One day she missed the bus.
We were told her mum had died
(she'd had cancer apparently) .
She never caught the bus again.