Image: Public Domain
By Kevin Patrick McCann
Four days had gone by since,
Four days of listening appalled
To children who talk like bomb
Happy veterans I was there with
me mate and don’t laugh but
when it started we held hands
and he says we’ll get down the
front and be over that fence and
there was men lifting kids passing
them along like at gigs and there’s
one girl freakin’ cos yer can see
her knicks and then next thing
a know am over the top and am
shoutin’ me mate but when a
looked back he was gone four days
Of nightmares and grief you can taste,
Four days of lies, puked me ring sir
and some fella says all right girl
gives me his snot rag gets me up
on me feet and a see this one busy
workin’ on some lad and he’s got
his jacket off and he’s screamin’
oh fer fuck’s sake please breathe
Tear ducts run dry, four days of
Waiting for one kind word from
On high until finally I went to
The Head who said yes, she’d
Seen a child psychologist and yes
There was a right way to deal with
All this and yes one wrong word
Could inflict…but no she hadn’t
Offered to share with the staff
Because she wasn’t obliged
And besides, no-one had asked.
