A swarm of blue and white
Shot-putters hurdlers sprinters javelins long and high jumpers
Congregate before esteemed guests whom the PTA did invite
To secretly scoff at losers and worship winners.

Not quick or strong,
All I could do was jump high.
Alwyn came in stone last in the cross country after long.
Poor chap – their sneering and booing made him cry.

Soon after, it was my turn,.
Third jump – down went the pole.
Alas! – one corner poked me in the back. The pain, the burn!
Need something sweet for the shock, like a Swiss roll.

Into the common room I went,
Where smoky, limp athletes unwound with a movie.
There I encountered three foes infernally-sent.
Alwyn was among them – out to get me.

“Why are you crying?” one goon prodded.
“I got hurt by a pole,” was all I could muster.
At this, Alwyn’s raucous laughter erupted and exploded.
One day I’ll get you, buster.

Didn’t you cry moments ago when they sneered at you?
So, your solution is to do as the Romans do?

First known outside of kin,
We played together whilst the world went by.
How hard must my heart heave for yours to cave in?
To this end indeed shall I try and try.

Not knowing how to tame thunderous heartbeats
Into ink that tars truth’s triumph,
I never wrote to you, but never stopped looking at your pleats,
Still hoping on the divine intervention of an amorous nymph.

Learning later of clichéd culture,
I bought you a rose and some chocolate.
Your rancid rejection verily did my heart rupture.
Why were you such a *****? – Okay, let’s drop it.

Townbound thereafter for many more years,
You made me watch you practice your heretic harlotry.
After working your way through the worst Neanderthals of my peers,
I realised that, for loving you, it is only myself that I pity.

Black skies and desolate fields
Are all that lie around me,
Now that they’re all indoors,
Waiting,
Hoping,
Praying for some hot chocolate.

Idle, I invite in
Never known needs
To challenge and conquer.
Depart empty-handed I shall not –
Today, this wall is mine!

Sudden rainfall saps reassurance,
Deifying doubt.
No – no. I pace wildly,
Ascend aesthetically, then
Slip on pasty mud, tilt and plummet.

Hamstring and right cheek now throbbing,
The heart of liberty now takes its first beat.
Is that all you got, sordid world?
Your sanctions of pain won’t squash my will – here I stand.
Bring it on – you can’t stop me.

Grey blue and black swishes dash
To and fro up and down
In luminous swirling stairwells
Leading to the shared bunkers where short dreams
Teleport young minds to Gotham City or Mordor.

Clap clap – wake up wake up wake up!
Self-same stairwell raided anew,
Fresh faces now need fast fuel.
Rosary bearers offer only two anecdotes:
A blue cup of Ceylon and hot syrupy pancakes.

Stop stop – line up line up line up!
Uniforms adjusted first,
Cup and plate received next,
Off we went to the low face brick wall,
Overlooking the garden with fat cabbages and bright carrots.

The magically sweet and warm feast
Lightened hearts and rouged cheeks,
Enticing talk of marbles, dolls and brave rabbits.
What did you do with your lives, friends?
When will we dine by the garden patch again?

Multi-coloured blocks are sprawled
Neatly across the floor where harvested kids play
With fidgety hands uncalled
To do much more than learn and pray.

Mmm…so good… peanut butter and jam
Beats cheeses and ham.
A little spring of Oros the throat does wet –
Perhaps a little too much – must go the toilet.

Enter, untuck, unzip.
Out shoots gold foam drip drip drip.
Paul Simon laughs at my harmless pecker,
His mate bursting into laughter like a lit *******.

Not knowing a thing of Cain and Abel,
I taught Paul the art of anger.
Didn’t you know? – humanity is but a fable!
Oh, come on now, don’t be a stranger.

Slowly,
They wait.
For they sense
That, an an imminence,
Her bud will burst bright.

In
My thoughts
And my dreams,
It's her I see,
But not like the others.

A
Public spectacle
She is not,
Though deemed to be.
Her blossoming is for me.

They
Can wait,
But they'll find
That their cherished lady
Will run into my arms.

Surely
You don't
Have to go?
Stay for a while.
I'll tell you the truth.