Scaryman

First hand up in class,

Forgot my trainers for PE.

Maturing faster than boys,

Busy learning to be brighter

Shinier— that’s just biology?

Now your hands are too rough,

And your teeth are too stained,

In a dive bar talking travel,

Small business, surfing in Bali.

At last orders, Janis rings out,

The wail of a woman left lonely.

Her voice cracks the tinny speakers,

Pint for you, malbec for me.

Perched here, waiting,

Wanting to be chosen so much

More than I care to be free.

To lie in the bed I've made,

Humming songs of ‘if only’.