Lost Property

Item one, a mobile phone

used by Rebecca Collins

(had a hole in her pocket):

item slipped out

left on a bus seat

picked up by a boy named Mark

it impressed his friends

so his brother stole it

sold it on the street

Mark thought he'd lost it

(irony lost on him),

item then owned

by Darren Walsh, he dealt with drugs

liked to shout at the phone

and feel like a real business man

but eventually outgrew it

gave it to his nan

showed her how to use it

she tried to work it

thought she broke it

sits in her kitchen cupboard now.

Item two, a teddy

formerly of Joe Bowler,

this time the true story:

item on a table one morning

mother knocked it while cleaning

dog grabbed it

gutted it

fluff-flesh and ripped face on the floor

the mother devastated took it

but couldn’t fix it

tried to replace it

but no shops made it

so turning defeat into deceit

she said the boy had left it

lying out, carelessly

and the dog had taken it

far away

(and would you believe it!)

the boy believed her

learnt a lesson that day

he remembered forever

(mother learnt

that to lie is easier.)

Item three, a cat

owned by a Gertrude Willoughby

living lonely:

item a stray

bare skin and stinky

Gertrude nutured it

loved it

underfed it one day

stayed in bed

felt ill, she said

so item (so-called Migsy)

took to the streets in search of grub

was wooed and picked up

by a little girl named Rosy

she moved it to her room

her first pet! - called it Percy

fed it biscuit crumbs and milk

and hid it from her ma

and kept it overnight

and locked it in a box with holes when she went off to school

and on return she found the cat had made a mess

so took a cupboard draw

and made a toilet for the creature

let it have the room to wander

left a window open

Percy ran away

Rosy wailed

and asked her ma if she could have a pet

and after many tears she got one and police

found Gertrude's body

eight days after she had passed away

and lying on her belly

was her cat, starved to death.

Item four, a note

worth five pounds sterling,

from the wallet of Will Francis:

item put on kitchen sideboard

after Will had bought some breakfast

hour later

back he came

and note had gone.

All six housemates suspects

all plead no way! not guilty!

Alex (best friend) was the liar

saw five pounds just by his keys

he thought he must have left it

seized it

spent it on two Pot Noodles, bread and cheese

never told them it was him who (accidentally) nicked it

and after he'd dispensed it

money journeyed down the chain,

cashier gave the note in change

to a cute kid buying sweets

he passed it onto mother

not allowed to spend it all, you see

she gave it to the church that Sunday

reverend counted up

cashed in

the bank absorbed it

spat it into the hand of Barry Wellock

bet his best mate Tony

Hull would get promoted

lost and Tony laughed and lapped it up

then snorted some coke with the note

(stuck up Tony's, Nick's and Mickey's nostrils)

note unrolled

and bundled in the hand of a blond

put it down her thong

for the joy of the throng

she wanted them to die

but danced

then gave it to her boss

he bought some cigarettes

down the local cornershop

it got robbed (again)

assailant dropped the note

and on that street a minute later

Will Francis found five pounds

must be a sign, he said

lost it on a roulette table that night.

Item five, a child

named Max Sanderson,

mother Maggie (single):

item aged three

soundly sleeping

Maggie downstairs

cleaning

washing

ironing her tops for work that week

she checked on Max

the bed was empty

nervous, looked around

and found the front door slightly open

(didn't close it properly, distracted with those groceries)

she rushed outside and screamed his name

the wide world had negated him

neighbours - no clue

shocked

now scared

informed police

they started searching

(a notice in the local paper,

a mention in the evening news)

Maggie sat alone and waited

the case filed through authorities

but with witnesses lacking

there were no leads

(Max had been picked up two blocks down

by a woman named Vona Fin

she'd coaxed him over to her car

took him

faked his papers

gave him (for a fee)

to an adoption agency

in Ohio

made a living from this business

'mothers make easy money' was her mantra)

a length of time slipped past

and Maggie found it hard to sleep

her dreams were always finding Max

so she hid the pictures of the boy

and took long walks through busy streets

she liked the way the crowd consumed her

(Vona meanwhile got knocked up

but couldn't kill the baby, strangely

stopped her business dead it did)

and two years passed

(Max named Scott

now five years old,

healthy and happy with new family)

the case was shelved

Maggie moved away

met a man

widowed, quite old

owned a charity shop

his wish

a hand to hold

and nothing more

she concurred

(a lie, she needed a child)

they worked together in the shop

and cared for things

thrown into the wind

one time a book was handed in

by a woman

was a gift from a friend

bought from a school stall

donated by a man

who'd read the stories to his son

named Scott, before that called Max,

so when Maggie opened the book

and read a short tale

she could have been reading to her lost child

but wasn't

the book was old

hadn't sold

she closed it

binned it

left it to rot

or be found by the cycle

and carried away.