The Climbing Frame

They’re tearing up the climbing frame 
in my old nursery. It’s such a shame – 
I’m as hollow as a crater, 
my memories all uprooted 
by a massive excavator. 

Our secret castle of hide and seek, 
we shouted, we played, cheeks aglow – 
Agnes and I at the very top 
and Kasper and Gaute below. 

All that will remain tomorrow 
is loose soil. 
Soon grass and flowers will grow, 
shake loose words from the grown-ups: 

other children in another nursery will get to enjoy it now 

At school I like to throw myself around, 
hang upside down. 
Everything is upside down. 
Agnes has new friends. They play. 

Does she remember the castle at the top of the frame 
which was torn from the ground  
and then driven away? 

 

Image: Erling Viksjø, Snippen, Luftforsvarets boliglag A/S, Oslo, 1953–54, Nasjonalmuseet. Foto: Teigens fotoatelier/DEXTRA Photo/Norsk Teknisk Museum