Wednesday 9 December 2015

I should have been there



They've buried him now
Read the obituary 
In the local rag

Worked in the outback
We got drunk every night
Those were great times then

Big jovial man
Who out-drank everyone there
I would drive him home

Going to miss him
But I am lying of course
Those times have long past

Back in the city
Different man entirely
Nothing in common

Nobody knows us
There he was a raging bull
Here a placid mouse

Jim Hancock is dead
But I missed his funeral
I should have been there

Image found at www.semissourian.com

7 comments:

  1. Perhaps the narrator of this story buried him in a more meaningful way? it is good to move on..move away...but of course remember for the right reasons...not the bad...a wise and 'real' poem...

    ReplyDelete
  2. sounds like a guilt thing. I hope the person knows that even if you miss the funeral you can still say goodbye in a meaningful way and remember the relationship of the past.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Live ling enough and everything we think we know about someone will get turned on its head. I'm not that old, yet I've already missed a few funerals like this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sometimes people died for us before their real death....it's important to remember their good days, efforts and successes...

    ReplyDelete
  5. The obituary clue certain prompted some interesting entries this week.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Enjoyed your poem/tale.... Left me wanting to dissect the poem for the rest of the story- the hidden parts- Well done.

    ReplyDelete