For you Sd, from my favourite poet.
Bits of Me
By Roger McGough
When people ask: ‘How are you?’
I say, ‘Bits of me are fine.’
And they are. Lots of me I’d take
anywhere. Be proud to show off.
But it’s the bits that can’t be seen
that worry. The boys in the backroom
who never get introduced.
The ones with the Latin names
who grumble about the hours I keep
and bang on the ceiling
when I’m enjoying myself. The overseers.
The smug biders of time.
Over the years our lifestyles
have become incompatible.
We were never really suited
and now I think they want out.
One day, on cue, they’ll down tools.
Then it’s curtains for me. (Washable
plastic on three sides.) Post-op.
Pre-med. The bed nearest the door.
Enter cheerful staff nurse (Irish
preferably). ‘And how are you today?’
(I see red.) Famous last words:
‘Bits of me are fine.’ On cue, dead.
The Identification
So you think its Stephen?
Then I’d best make sure
Be on the safe side as it were.
Ah, theres been a mistake.
The hair you see, its black, now Stephens fair…
Whats that? The explosion?
Of course, burnt black. Silly of me.
I should have known. Then lets get on.
The face, is that a face I ask?
that mask of charred wood
blistered, scarred could
that have been a child’s face?
The sweater, where intact, looks
in fact all too familiar
But one must be sure.
The scoutbelt. Yes thats his.
I recognise the studs he hammered in
not a week ago. At the age
when boys get clothes-conscious
now you know Its almost certainly
Stephen. But one must
be sure. Remove all trace of doubt.
Pull out every splinter of hope.
Pockets. Empty the pockets.
Handkerchief? Could be any schoolboy’s.
Dirty enough. Cigarettes?
Oh this can’t be Stephen.
I don’t allow him to smoke you see.
He wouldn’t disobey me. Not his father.
But thats his penknife. Thats his alright.
And thats his key on the keyring
Gran gave him just the other night.
Then this must be him.
I think I know what happened
……about the cigarettes
No doubt he was minding them
for one of the older boys.
Yes thats it.
Thats him.
Thats our Stephen.
Roger McGough
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