To the Girl in the Orange Jumper
To the girl in the orange jumper
sat two seats down from me,
I'm anxious, though anxious, to tell her
she looks incredibly pretty:
the way she gazes out the glass
and well outshines the sun -
as we over cities pass
she lights up every one.
Her golden hair, just like a fountain
flows down over her shoulder
as we soar away from great mountains
to an island nation colder
than the warmth you have here in France,
yet I know we'll be alright;
for I can tell with a single glance
at her that she'll shine bright
upon our coldest winter day -
just wait and we will show 'em.
To her, there's so much I must say;
that's why I wrote this poem.
About To the Girl in the Orange Jumper
On a flight back from France a week before Christmas, the poet found themselves sat two seats from the titular girl in the orange jumper. Inspired, they wrote a poem about her, and left it on the seat between them when they went to the toilet. When they returned, she had read the poem and struck up a conversation with them. After getting to know each other, they exchanged social handles and went their separate ways at Bristol Airport.
The poem is preserved in its first draft, written in haste on an airplane. The rhyme is simple, stereotypically poetic to evoke the cliché love poems found throughout literature. This trend is acknowledged by the final lines, recognising the common use of poetry for such a purpose.
Recorded on
DATE
Read by
Vance Hatton