Kids Are Cruel

Billy had a friend Called Donald with A face like a donkey And teeth like a duck. They used to run amuck In school playgrounds And forests where they'd Hide in trees and launch Frozen peas at old people Squatting under home-spun Canopies. But aged twelve, Billy shelved affection For his friend with the distorted face. He changed his name to Will and started Having sex and carrying a briefcase. When Will avoided him at school, Donald took to ducking classes And covering his facial anomalies With sticking plasters. But Will was not impressed And left his former side-kick Alone in his world of lop-sided features That seemed to have been Inherited from several different Alien creatures. Donald sat vainly in their childhood tree Where his face grew long and green With pre-pubescent jilted lover's weeping. He cried for one week, then fell asleep, Dreaming mournful cess, Mouth gaping doomed distress. It was winter. The peas froze And slid icily from the leaves Above, filling mouth and nose Absorbing breath, choking grief. He fell without a cinematic thud. Jagged frame sank lifeless in the mud. Forty six years later Will Tried to find Donald For a school reunion.