It wasn’t me the notorious outlaw said.
His mother was Ellen, his father Red.
They used to sell illegal liquor, so he was ill-bred.
A case of mistaken identity, said the Kelly, Ned.
Horse thieving and hurting policemen too.
We know it’s you! We know it’s you!
It was not me, the horse thief Ned Kelly lied.
But he abruptly lost when his case was tried.
He’ll be hanged, by cracky! The Australians said.
We’ll string him up ‘til he is dead!’
But he saved my life! One of the jurors cried.
He saved me from drowning. Can’t we let this slide?
It wasn’t me! The outlaw lied. It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me!
It was him, the police said, and they all did agree.
They tied him up, and let him hang and he soon died.
And the boy he saved from drowning was the one that cried.
On holiday in Orkney in 2017
Visited a historical site
“Four adults please”
Got three adults and a concession
Concession? What???!!!
Who’s the concession?
There are no students
Or over 60s in our party
It was a case of mistaken identity
They thought I was too young to be an adult
They didn’t think to ask my age
Or for student ID
I was twenty three years old
With no student ID
I was unemployed
Nothing to say unemployed are concessions
We queried it
They wouldn’t change it
This mistake meant that
I couldn’t get my money’s worth
It was a silly mistake
No ID means no concessions
They should have changed it
So I could get my money’s worth
Since then I have wondered
Why anyone would sell
A concession ticket
To a non concession
26/07/21
D'YA KEN* KEN - I'M A BARBIE GIRL!
My hubby has a doppelganger
This guy ‘Ken’ I’d love to meet
as hubby’s twice been greeted with ‘Hi Ken’
when we are walking down the High Street
I’m dashing out to buy a blonde wig
So if he’s mistaken again,
I can then be Barbie to his Ken
*’D’ya Ken’ is a Scottish phrase which means ‘do you know’
We were walking in our capital city Douglas and a guy walked past and said ‘hello Ken’ we thought it was just a case of mistaken identity until we were at the hospital yesterday and it happened again. I would love to meet this ‘Ken’ to see the likeness to my hubby!
8/2/18
He was nothing like expected,
sure he matched the description
of the contents of her dream but
he was different somehow
Mislead and disappointed she
wondered why it felt so important
at the time, where minutes don't
matter in the length of a day
that never ends in remembrance.
He could not compete with his rival
that urged her to let him go and
continue to wait, for it was a
case of mistaken identity.
The real man was still in hiding.
I remember my candles glowing
Every passing night I wake up with loads in my eyes
My head begin to pound as if garri and pounded yam are about to make their way out of the kitchen
Kaaki and boots stare into my memory as soon as my thought drive me to memory lane
Drenched in reflection I saw a stick and a student staring into my eyes
Case of mistaken identity, it had a romance with my left eye,
As the student lends me his eyes of jealousy
I swam in the pool of events when I looked up to the sky,
I saw the rays of advent
I have walked like a berserk buffalo shoes on my palms
When admission failed to kneel at my feet
Academic impression were made on white paper when the blue leaves of intellectual expression melted my knowledge into creativity
It never failed me until the loquacious instrument of human contact retires from duty
I remember the ground crumbling at my feet when luck has gone on vacation
Leaving me in the corridors of despair and sadness
When the wind blew I saw myself working in the path of hope
Then Nature Beckon on me to be strong and never give up
James Bain imprisoned in jail for a crime he did not commit
Proclaiming his innocence that took a long 35 years to acquit
Accused of raping a nine year old boy, when he was just nineteen
That his young life would be stolen from him was devastatingly unforeseen
All because he fit the description, a case of mistaken identity
Now facing years of hardships, gone the days of relaxed serenity
The mental anguish he must have endured, one can not conceive
Yet, he's not angry or bitter, angst most of us could not perceive
Four motions were denied for DNA testing on his case
The fifth proved his innocence and became his saving grace
Released when he was 54, with a smile that doesn't leave his face
He says: "it's because I got God", his devout faith he does embrace
Now positive and happy, he is an inspiration to all mankind
To fight and not to give up hope when dealt cards justly unkind.
Sponsor ~ Black Eyed Susan
Contest Name ~ Wrongful Imprisonment or Sentenced
I’ll follow you
Across the sky
Your trail of light reflected in my black, black eyes
Give the moon a run for her money
She can’t compete
For a moment you’re a glimmer of hope
The cloud’s silver lining
Reappear on the other side
Another case of mistaken identity?
I’ll crash back down to reality.
To the same scenario, again:
A plane mistaken for a shooting star
A shooting star mistaken for a chance
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.