2002-01-30 - 5:22 p.m.
I slept right through the alarm.
It was 8.17, and the exam started at 9.
Sped through the roads that I could
(It was peak-hour traffic on Warrigal Road).
Panic and a cigarette served as breakfast on wheels
But I was still hungry for sleep; three hours merely teased me.
The paper was beyond expectation
There was little time to sit and worry about what I couldn't do.
Came home to a parcel on the table-
Speed post, from Singapore.
A high school girlfriend, a belated birthday present.
We hadn't kept in contact since we left high school,
Apart from the very rare ocassions someone ambitiously planned a get-together.
We met up briefly on my recent trip back,
Exchanged details, stories, shared distress at having grown up.
She sent me a plate,
A white squarish one from Ikea.
She wrote the words to Vincent on it-
I'm not sure if it was good memory or a good guess.
I started to cry as I took it out of the box,
For the thought, and her effort.
It made me all sentimental again,
Good things still happen,
Old friends sometimes remember.
'This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you'
-Don McLean-
