Elaine Baker mentors young writers in her role as Patron of Writing in local schools. She runs a poetry evening class and has taught at The Poetry School, London. Elaine is currently Poet in Residence at the Vale & Downland Museum, Wantage, Oxfordshire. She enjoys performing her poetry and has collaborated with musicians the Oxford Improvisers. Her poetry has been widely published including in Proletarian Poetry, Envoi, Mslexia, Brittle Star and The North. She has an MA in Writing Poetry.
Twitter: @kitespotter
The Help
I am the Help. You need me
so I’m squeezing through
this narrow gap. See
how I compress, who knew
my head could shrink
like this! And it throb
throbs so fat I think
it can’t possibly fit
through that gap
but it does, and I know
this because as I collapse
I see the rest of me
go past: deflated dummy.
And when I hear me speak
I’m a bad juggler. Un-
funny. I think that I might
be some kind of
girl with a tail and a pin
in her hand, blind,
reaching for the flat animal
while everyone looks on.
Stretching out I feel around,
guess this is the wrong
side of the gap so I
start to use my eyes
but then I hear: Help
and I’m turning inside
out as you push me
back my hair stuffing
into my torso
my nails locking
into my palms.
Elaine Baker