DUCKY
I remember my
first cricket encounter
how the red gleam of
that battering ball
instantly
took the shine
out of me, rubbed
off
my high-
spirited gloss
what a
way for sweet naivete
to die
trudging out in huge pads
like a robot on an odd planet
reaching the wicket
taking my guard
one ball at a time
one ball at a time
only got one
or perhaps none
so fast it was
the monster that hurled it
that brutal savage
of a
best friend
what hope did I have
in this game of gentlemen
of imperial measure
his father
knowing the game
taught him everything
was that
a smirk on my father’s face
when i tearfully explained
to my Mother
the abject ignominy
of going out for a duck
poems 2 die for 