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Sex, Mates, the Comet and the Banker's Daughter


A true story


Heavenly and Earthly bodies


We went to her house at night
She was the bank manager’s daughter
And therefore of a higher class
My best mate
Was fucking her
It was a victory for the working class
Though I could only cheer
From the grandstand.


I was 18
He 17
She 16
She had long flowing blonde hair
Pleasant, blemish free skin
But we both knew
She had the personality of river trout
Though she wasn’t a bad person
And that counts for something.

We stood on her back doorstep
To observe the stars
With her dad’s binoculars
For this once in a lifetime event
‘Can you see it?’
‘No.’
‘I can see it.’
‘Where?’
‘Bullshit.’
‘Look dickhead.’
‘Ah ok. There it is.’
‘You mean, that’s all?’
‘It’s not E.T.’
It was small but strong
White end proudly
Leaving  a faint trail
Across the bottom of the night sky
Halley’s Comet
It didn’t seem that impressive
As I’d seen
Many a shooting star
Growing up in the country
Halley's Comet - 1986
But we were told it was special
So there we were.

We watched it for awhile
I did appreciate that I wouldn’t see it again
(Though it’s feasible
I’ll be almost 100)
Yet I didn’t mind
Getting out of there
Returning my friend
To my car
And the night
And a little joint I was saving
Kicking back by the river
Listening to the ethereal
1984
Electronic voices
Within Jean Michel Jarre’s                                                            
Zoolook
Which seemed further out into space
Than some steady white blip.

That comet’s burning somewhere now
And will keep going around and around
But people do not
And though I could not know
That my best friend only had four years left to live
That night,
I enjoyed the company more.




More Poetry 

3 comments:

  1. A sting of sadness in its tail. Must be really tragic to have a best friend die. I was only a couple of years older, and at uni, when Halley's comet came around. I once had a few of Jean Michaels Jarre's albums - I still have a CD of his greatest hits.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for dropping by continuously while i was away Graham. Very much appreciated.
      Yes, it was a big deal, especially at that age. Never good to lose a friend.

      Delete
  2. Great poem Anthony! The ending just about knocked me off my chair.

    ReplyDelete

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