Immoral support

The pre-op sister spoke in reassuring,
confident tones and you seemed fine
as you took it all in, matter of fact.

Yet despite this, there was a brief
moment when the reality of what
you would soon undertake

hit me square between the eyes.
But I couldn’t show it, as I was
there for moral support. I couldn’t

show how much I admired you
and how much harder I loved you -
if that was possible.



John H Davies
23rd August 2010 

Rough Justice

It seemed fair to assume
there’d be thieves in a prison,
but after our last belonging
had finally gone the way
of the others, and we still
had no idea who the culprit was,
we planted an imaginary object
under the bunk of the
most likely candidate
and beat the shit out of him.
There wasn’t any more trouble
for a while.


John H Davies
2nd April 2011 

There’s more fruit this year

There’s more fruit this year
hanging from the trees.
A bumper crop, but
one less letter home.

Today will to a certain boy
acknowledge a right of way

that angry motorists
at home feel their duty
to display, vocally

on some congested motorway
that is their world.

But here, the guardsman
cries a different cry,
because he’s probably going to die -
‘Incoming!’ And his CSM
reinforces the lie

or the truth
that no-one dies.
Not on his watch.

And as he fades

he confuses words
intoned in an East Midlands
lilt…
‘Allahu Akbar’
Which roughly translated says:
‘Not today my son.’


John H Davies
20th XIII 2013