NOBLE WOLF

Small and pink faced, he

Cracked a cry and

Breathed through restless

Thumping lungs

Thump

Grow up. You want to be older

Join the church choir, learn to sing

Aspire to be a priest.

Lost him. You want to be younger

Chase the time, say goodbye

Death is scary when you’re young.

Stop that. You’ve got to act older

Follow the footsteps of your father, learn to be like him

But this isn’t who you are now.

Cheer up. You’ve got a lot to look forward to

Be your father, do your fathers job

But this isn’t who you want to be

Be you. You have to do what you want to do

Invest time in your art, work hard

It will pay off, you’ll see

Try to. You try to do your best, but

Your best isn’t enough

Give up.

Start again. You’ve got to support yourself

Mother’s getting old, sell watercolours of Vienna to get by

Get by isn’t enough now.

Lost her. You’ve got to find a home

Homeless men in shelters, hostels

It’s got to be better than this hasn’t it now?

Lucky penny. You’ve got a purpose now

Draw funny cartoons on the side of the platoon

For the army newspaper,

It’s all looking up now.

Join army. You’ve got a lot to learn now

Being hit doesn’t make you less of a man

Being blinded doesn’t make you blind

Now

Contemplate suicide. You’ve got nothing to lose now

Don’t be a fool, didn’t come all this way just to do

What quitters do

I’m not that fool

Now

Get married. You’ve got someone to go with now

Share a wedding breakfast, French toast

A toast to our marriage

Say Auf Wiedersehen. You’ve got somewhere to be, now

Take a cyanide capsule, take a bullet

To the brain and

Forget

The debt

That’s been made to you

That this was all in vain.

Megan Reece