And don’t believe what you see on the telly
Said the taxi driver
As we sped to The Simpson
All these beautiful perfect wee new-born babies
They’re horrible looking things when they first come out
All blue and purple
And they’ve got funny-shaped heads

She wasn’t horrible looking
Blue or purple
And her head was distinctly head-shaped
It was the bright red hair
That came as a surprise
As striking then as now

We handled her like she’d shatter
And watched aghast
As hearty nurses
Tore off her baby grows
And swept her to changing stations
Terrifying us
With their trust in her resilience

One of The Very Last Babies
To be born in The Simpson
Her mother startled on the ward
By a camera crew
Then at the bus stop
By an old man
Who recognised her from the STV News

By the time our second came
Skin olive, hair brown
But head still head-shaped
The Simpson was long gone
And she was born
A stranger to camera crews
And keen-eyed old men
In our living room