Today John Lennon will die
Today John Lennon will die
Cold enough for gloves.
A sky the colour of tripe
Clings to Clonakilty’s rooftops.
Our two spires hide in fog.
At school we warm our fingers
twisting little figures out of mála,
The last flecks of rainbow congealing
into shit-brown as we roll.
At small break the big boys beat
the babies up. At big break
they beat us up again. My belly hurts.
Mrs Crowley scolds “Only Cows Have Bellies“.
At home a young woman is suddenly old.
She stretches on the settee weeping.
A man on the telly keeps standing up and falling over,
standing up and falling over.
******
Today John Lennon Will Die is from my 2007 Collection The Boy in The Ring.