Art by Chelsea Pentland

Covered in dirt under the front porch

there is a Littlest Pet Shop.

When I went looking with a torch

I found a bayonet before I was told to stop.

There is a Littlest Pet Shop, 

my favourite from childhood, lost as I

just found a bayonet and don’t want to stop

now – ‘don’t do that, you’ll take out someone’s eye’.

My favourite from childhood, lost as I

no longer bathe in laundry tubs. See

now, I don’t do that, I’ll take out someone’s eye!

Splashing around, I’m not old enough to be

no longer bathing in laundry tubs, see,

I will always wash in water from the kettle,

splashing around. I’m not old enough to be

buried in the ground, food for the stinging nettles.

I will always wash in water from the kettle,

and I will always go looking with a torch

for treasure buried in the ground; food for the stinging nettles

lost in the dirt under the front porch