I’m a person.
I’ve got money. I went in a shop. I’ve got my cassette. It’s in my pocket. I bought it in the shop. Brother James and Sister Sue will play it when I get there. They’ll play it and they’ll sing and I’ll sing.
She’s not really called Sister Sue, that’s what I call her. She doesn’t mind. My feet are wet. They’re wet inside my trainers and they’ll be all wrinkly. They gave me these trainers at Makepeace House, when I left. Before that I wore slippers. When I was at Makepeace House I wore slippers and in the grounds I wore Wellingtons.
The wet’s in my sock through the tops of my trainers. It creeps in. Course it can, it’s leather and what is leather? It’s skin. It’s got pores. I know that.
See.
I saw cows. When we drove away from Makepeace House I saw them. Jesus called them kine. Here’s the station just like Sister Sue said. Just look for the sign she said. And this is a queue. Before Makepeace House, at the other place, we had to queue for our meals. But not at Makepeace House, only for medication. And that was only some times.
I know where I’m going. I tell the man behind the glass “I’m going to Victoria.” I put my five pounds on my side of the glass. Five pounds is a lot of money. It spins round, The man behind the glass spins it right back again and I get my ticket and some other money. All coins and I count them. They smell in my hand.
Oh it looks so fast going down. So far going down. The steps open one after another. They don’t stop. Now I’m going down fast. I must be ready for the bottom because these steps go round and round. They go underneath. I must jump because they go underneath and come out at the top again. Ready steady, jump.
I’m a person, I’m going somewhere, I’m going to Bath. It’s not just Brother James and Sister Sue there. It was just them who came to Makepeace House. I know them. I know them both. They’re in Bath now and they’ll say, Hello Jason, because that’s my name, and we’ll all sing for Jesus. All of us, not just them. It was just them only when they came to Makepeace House. The rails down here, they hum. Most people can’t hear them but I can. Electricity’s alive, that’s why the shiny rail’s called a live rail. At the place before Makepeace House they thought if I saw one I’d jump on it and sizzle like bacon in a frying-pan. That’s what they said. But they didn’t know me at that place.
I’m a person.
When the train comes I don’t like to stand near the edge. I told them that at the place before Makepeace House. It comes so fast and furious. I told them that but they still didn’t know me. I’m a person. The train’s going to Victoria, it said so. Brother James and Sister Sue. They know me. I don’t have to take anything, they’ve got sleeping bags. They said so. After we’ve sung and we’ve had our tea I can tuck myself in a sleeping bag. Oops. People getting off and people getting on. On and off, round and round, on and off. That’s the world, round and round. That’s what I told them at the other place. I said it and they said nothing. But at Makepeace House, sometimes we played games.
I’m a person, I’m going somewhere. I’m going to Bath and soon I’ll get off. They told me at Makepeace House, at Victoria I must get off and I said yes. See, I’ve got off. I didn’t have to, I’ve got a ticket. I could go round and round. But I would have got dizzy. I don’t like feeling dizzy, it makes me sick. I used to feel dizzy at that other place. At Makepeace House they said to get off at Victoria.
WAY OUT. Follow the signs, that’s what they said, Sister Sue said it too. Just follow the signs, Jesus made them clear so everyone can see them. So everyone can follow. A lot of people can’t, they can’t see. I can. Jesus is love.
It’s not so far going up. And it’s not so fast. At the top I’ll get off. I didn’t like that other place before Makepeace House. It was cold. Nurse Blue had cold hands. Out of the freezer and under my dressing gown. Doctor X he has cold hands. He’s not called that. I called him Doctor X. He had his own name, it was written on a door. He didn’t know Jesus is Love.
See, I’ve got off. It’s a station, a very big station. Doctor X wasn’t at Makepeace House. We had grounds there. I worked in the grounds at Makepeace House. We had road-dendron and my bed was in Silver hut. There’s trains all lined up behind the railings. They’re humming too. Just waiting to go. The driver will let them go and Whoosh.
Sometimes I whoosh. At Makepeace House they didn’t mind. I could whoosh and I did so. For Jesus. Brother James and Sister Sue and not just them, they’ll be waiting. And I’ll give them my cassette and we’ll sing. I bought that cassette in a shop. I’m a person.
I’m not going on a train, I’m going b y coach. And there’s a sign TO THE COACH STATION. It’s only small but I can see it because I’m going to Brother James and Sister Sue where we’re going to KNOW Jesus is Love. They said, follow the signs Jason, take the coach to Bath and we’ll find you. They found me and I found them.
My feet are wet inside my trainers. They gave me these trainers at Makepeace House when I left. The pavement is all slippy. I can’t see the Coach Station but the sign said so and I will follow the sign. It wasn’t just me left Makepeace House. Everyone did. Not just me. But it’s only me who’s going to Bath to love Jesus.
See, here it is. I read the signs. When you love Jesus it’s easy to read the signs. I’m a person, I’ve got money, I know where I’m going. I’m at the glass with money in my hand. “I’m going to Bath,” I say. The man behind frowns. He doesn’t like me. He looks like Doctor X.
What? He says.
I’m a person. I’m going to Bath to love Jesus I say.
John Barker
