When I was Sixteen is a tapestry poem written by Melissa Lemay and yours truly.
A tapestry poem is when two poets write a nine-line poem to a title (in this case, Melissa created the title). Then, they collaborate to weave the words together into one poem.
Melissa’s nine-line poem
When I was sixteen, I smoked my first cigarette,
And did a bunch of other things I regret,
Like sneaking people in through my bedroom window—
Two of those people ended up stealing
Two of my parents’ cars, while my parents vacationed
At the beach—they were pissed.
In the morning, my friend who’d stayed over,
Walked off with me to evade the police.
We didn’t get far.
Melissa Lemay, 2024
My nine-line poem
I was sweet,
And wore a mini skirt,
with boots on my feet by Courréges,
I liked to flirt with the boys…
And sold my handmade toys
to posh shops in Knightsbridge and Bond Street,
I worked for a wage—five bob an hour as an artist,
Painting shop window mannequins’ eyes for a job,
And I danced the let’s twist again Twist.
Lesley Scoble, May 2024
I am proud to present to you the poem that weaves both mine and Melissa’s together, When I was Sixteen.
When I was Sixteen
by
Melissa Lemay and Lesley Scoble
I was sweet,
I worked for a wage—five bob an hour as an artist,
Painting shop window mannequins’ eyes for a job,
And sold my handmade toys
to posh shops in Knightsbridge and Bond Street.
When I was sixteen, I smoked my first cigarette,
And wore a mini skirt,
And did a bunch of other things I regret,
Like sneaking people in through my bedroom window—
I liked to flirt with the boys…
Two of those people ended up stealing
Two of my parents’ cars, while my parents vacationed
At the beach—they were pissed.
In the morning, my friend who’d stayed over,
Walked off with me in an attempt to evade the police.
with boots on my feet by Courréges,
We didn’t get far.
And I danced the let’s twist again Twist.
~
Melissa Lemay and Lesley Scoble, May 2024
NOTES
I and my sister sold the handmade toys (mentioned in the poem) to Fenwicks, Bond St and later, to Harrods, Knightsbridge. Here is a newspaper cutting (I’m on the right) proving that I was once upon a time, “sweet sixteen”. It was in the newspaper so it must be true.
Adel Rootstein Display Mannequins
Adel Rootstein produced the best shop window mannequins in town. They modelled the mannequins on famous super models such as Twiggy, Pattie Boyd and the amazing model, Veruschka. They employed me at the sweet age of 16 to paint the eyeballs and face make-ups on them.
I painted at the studio in Falconberg Mews (nr Soho Square, London) and at their studios in Chelsea. Besides working at the London studios, I also went on tour around the country (and abroad) to paint the mannequins on site at large department stores. My oil painted eyes gazed from many shop windows all over the world.
If you’re interested in hearing about a time I found myself alone in a department store late at night… Click below.
Open story here
Story time!
I belonged to the travelling mannequin repair team. We were the three musketeers and travelled all over the country to renovate and repair any broken mannequins. Our names began with the letter L, so we named ourselves the three L’s. Len, Leo and Les.
The boys would pick me up at my home at an unearthly early hour in a small white van. I would fall into the back with the equipment, spray paint compressors, etc. I had no seat and tumbled about in the back with the spare mannequin parts.
We went to a big department store in Leeds, Yorkshire. I always got the first day off. There was nothing for me to do until the boys had completed their work on the store’s display mannequins. I was free to while away the first day in any of the towns we went to.
My hard work began when the boys finished the repairs and base coat spray painting. They could then go out on the town and leave me painting alone in an allocated unused space in the department store. I shall tell you a story when they did just that.
Chapter one
I was painting on a vast empty floor at the top of the building. I needed the loo. There wasn’t one. I searched, but all that was available were empty paint cans.
Len and Leo said they would come back for me… but they didn’t.
Late into the night, I painted eyeballs. When I finished. I tidied up the filled paint cans as best I could, leaving them for some poor person to discover later. (There was no place to hide them).
I wandered about the empty department store, looking for an exit. I was tired. It had been a hard day’s night, as the Beatles might say. Have you ever been locked in, in a big empty store late at night? It is dark and eery.
There are lots of creepy mannequins standing about.
I found a sleeping escalator. Stationary and shut down for the night. I find static escalators strange to walk down. At last, I reached the ground level.
I couldn’t find a way out.
Then, I discovered a huge metal door. You know the kind? The doors that are the size of a wall. There was a large iron wheel to the side of it. I turned it. It was heavy and took every bit of strength I could muster. It turned slowly. The door inched upwards. I let the wheel go, and it hurled down again—to bang shut!
Once more, I had to turn and heave this weighty wheel. Inch by inch, the rusty wheel turned, and the massive door moved upward. There was now a gap just large enough for me to crawl through.
What if the door slammed down again? I’d be history. I peered under the door. Guess what I saw?
There were arc lights, and police car headlights all aimed at me. Dazzling my eyes. There were dogs straining at the leash, and dramatic silhouettes of police officers pointing torches in my direction.
“‘Allo, ‘allo” said a copper. “What have we here?”
I was furious. The whole time I’d been struggling to get out. The entire Leeds police force and dog units had encircled the area to watch the tortuous slow progress of the mighty door.
” You could’ve helped me,” I said.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you, Melissa, for inviting me to collaborate with you. It was an honour and a privilege, and fun!
Thank you, David Bogomolny for introducing me to this new poetry form.
Credit to the creators of the Tapestry poetry form, Shernaz Wadia and Avril Meallem.
Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.
LesleyScoble.com 
Leave a reply to Melissa Lemay Cancel reply