Hunched over a Maths textbook,
not filling in Algebra equations,
refusing to bow down to going beyond
angles as they at least
were useful when playing pool
against Andy Bell in many
a Bicester public house,
the cover of the book
instead a hive of activity
in reprinting lyrics from memory
and my own tentative steps,
laborious, protracted and the topic
of conversation between headmaster
and pupil, between careers advisor and
stubborn boy who didn’t want
to anything but write, act and produce
poetry; the scorn of it all, not fit
for anything but the army,
well I tried your uniform on
and saw that it wasn’t for me,
too filled with starch and fear,
and whilst it may have taken forever,
there is a finger slowly being raised
across Time and no matter if nothing
else can ever match it, I at least once
proved a point.
Ian D. Hall 2016