Would it be good?
​
Would it be good to see old friends
To say we’ve missed them, make amends
For years gone by when we’ve lost touch
And say time doesn’t matter much?
Remembering when we were young
Of different times when songs were sung
In seedy, noisy, folk club bars
On slightly out of tune guitars
Our hair flowed onto flowered shirts
The girls in full length cambric skirts
Or skirts that barely reached the thigh
They were designed to turn the eye
Lambretta scooters decked in chrome
That always seemed to get us home
I towed John home once with my scarf
It stretched so much it made us laugh
It went from ten to twenty feet
Still wore it though. I looked quite neat.
Those days when hair sat on my shoulder
A feeble beard to look much older
From school, at lunchtime, into town
To coffee bars where half a crown
Would buy a frothy lukewarm cup
Of something weak that we would sup
For ages, ‘til our time was done
Then back to school for half past one.
Squashed in desks designed for smaller
Folks than us. We were much taller
Than those kids from years before
And pins and needles, backsides sore.
We’d gouge our names in blackest pen
We we’re not children, not quite men
Gangly, spotty teenage boys
Loud and irksome. Lots of noise
Betrayed our presence in the street
A pain to anyone we’d meet
We thought we knew it all but soon
There came that fateful afternoon
Exams all done. The summer called
The final essay had been scrawled
The last bell signalled it’s the end
And we could barely comprehend
Just what the future held in store
Uni? Work? Then through the door
Without a second backward glance
Would we ever get the chance
To meet again and see old friends?
To say we’ve missed them. Make amends
For all those years that passed us by
We look back fondly with a sigh
Our lives are changed we’re old men now
With sagging cheeks and furrowed brow.
It’s best to leave the past behind
Relive it only in your mind.
