and how did it feel
to be inside that car
as it turned upside down
on the night that you died
and did you see headlights
come to you like eyes
of a god who is telling you
it is your time
and know what it meant
and is there a way
that you could perhaps tell me
if dying was fast
like a burning out light
or if it was slow
with your friends sat around you
and two of them dead
and did you remember —
not then, but ever —
my first day of school
and the ICT room —
you were eight, I was nine —
when they dared you to ask
if i'd go out with you
and did you remember
the way i said no
and did you remember
my reconsideration
because then i misread
your put-on dejection —
and did you remember
you said you were joking;
and did you remember
i said i was too
and as i keep seeing
your face in the news
i see you at eight
back when we didn't know
you would only have thirteen
more years in this place
in memories stuck pritt-sticked
far down in my brain
with the echoes of childhood
and grimy grass stains
from running the field out
on my knees and face
and the smell of a classroom
and paper and pens
and the feeling of being
in the good old days
and was dying like being
back inside that school
in the warm yorkshire june
with your friends all around you
and being let out
for the summer
and i haven't known you
since we were just kids
but you're part of my memory;
i'm sorry you're dead
Apr 10
Apr 10, 2026 at 12:07 PM UTC
and how did it feel
to be inside that car
as it turned upside down
on the night that you died
and did you see headlights
come to you like eyes
of a god who is telling you
it is your time
and know what it meant
and is there a way
that you could perhaps tell me
if dying was fast
like a burning out light
or if it was slow
with your friends sat around you
and two of them dead
and did you remember —
not then, but ever —
my first day of school
and the ICT room —
you were eight, I was nine —
when they dared you to ask
if i'd go out with you
and did you remember
the way i said no
and did you remember
my reconsideration
because then i misread
your put-on dejection —
and did you remember
you said you were joking;
and did you remember
i said i was too
and as i keep seeing
your face in the news
i see you at eight
back when we didn't know
you would only have thirteen
more years in this place
in memories stuck pritt-sticked
far down in my brain
with the echoes of childhood
and grimy grass stains
from running the field out
on my knees and face
and the smell of a classroom
and paper and pens
and the feeling of being
in the good old days
and was dying like being
back inside that school
in the warm yorkshire june
with your friends all around you
and being let out
for the summer
and i haven't known you
since we were just kids
but you're part of my memory;
i'm sorry you're dead
