Sometimes it was my turn
to buy the shilling’s worth
of broken biscuits
from the new Summerhill shops
then the Ryans and me
would cut through the last paddock
for a watermelon
and the buckshot over our heads
broke up like comets
entering the atmosphere
we caught yabbies with the tin
and our crumbs we reckoned
floated all the way to China
decades later I ran into Johnny
at northlands car park
he killed that nice Buchanan kid
the lone cashier at the Drive In
with a sawn off shottie
when he was fourteen
now he’s just a tatt on Aids
but we had a laugh
I remember you allright Jimmy
how you brought down dragonflies
spitting out those stolen pips
your aim was that good
yeah but I only got community service
his toothless gums so wide
I could’ve been a dentist
First Published in Gargouille Issue 10 2019 edited by Wreford and Howell
