In Answer - poetry by AndyN
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IN ANSWER
I can't remember if
It was when
You told me 'you can always
tell me when it's giro day',
when we would
hear your neighbours
swear at each other
when drunk.
I can't remember
If it was in the Sweet Pea
Where both of us
Got slaughtered once
When the barman
Gave us trebles
Instead of singles
All night
And both of us threw up
In Hampsons
Near the bus station
The following morning.
I can't remember
If it was
Being pleated by
Vicious hailstones
On Buckley Lane
And feeling like I
Was in a remake of
An American
Werewolf in London
When I stepped
Into a pub for directions
And you laughed
Your socks off
When I told you
I thought I was
Going to get lynched.
I can't remember.
Wandering across
Deserted factory lines
That led to your house
And discovering
These lines
Have now become
Major supermarkets
While in the background
I can see old pubs
Standing there
Like bad tempted old uncles
Who know their time
Is coming soon.
Too Soon.
Memories which are like paths
Or days
Which always contain
The same stones Or foundations
Even though
The people are
Different
Even whether they
Are screaming abuse
At each other drunk Or sitting there
Staring there at you
When you stumble
In unexpected
Into their lives.
Too Soon.
Like when you asked me
About your neighbours
Again
And I said
I didn't know.
I didn't know
When I walked alone
Across those deserted lines
In moonlight.
I didn't know
As I walked at
Your street again
But you had gone.
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