Lessons
i
And him with his track record –
he should have known to leave school left,
not tag back to the party
on third-hand word of hi-jinks,
an ex-prefect break-in
unlocking the Botanics
for hothouse booze and maybe things
might get a little steamy.
Fully-clothed, he tumbles past
lily pads and sabulous fish;
the fearty swimmer selected
for propelling off the edge.
ii
He should have understood himself
as marked for special treatment
the day they pissed his pacamac
down the poolside toilet.
iii
The awkward lad’s foreign name
had earned him a punch in the belly
as Swimming followed History,
Great War reverberations:
Your granddad kilt my granddad.
But the name is Danish. And why
did you group-gob on my blazer?
They tellt you were adopted.
Edinburgh-born Roy Moller lives in Dunbar, with his wife and son He is working on his first collection, Imports, to be published by Appletree Writers in December. Twitter: @RoysterMoller