I arrive early for the derby
the pub a pendulum of opinion
my father’s friends already in their seats
drinking and doing the bets,
as though the furlough of Saturday
had run a circuit
through the weeknights of their
proud toil,
back to the eternal pre-match.
They look up as I enter,
me, announcing a desire to do things
clean this time, the proper way
to which they laugh, and laugh
again
so I recoil to
the green baize room
I lie there on the snooker table
where all my dreams rest peacefully
on a bed of faded halos
___________
Nick Power is a writer from Wirral, Merseyside, and authored a number of books, including 'Into The Void (On Tour With The Coral 2016-17)' and 'Bright Angel Proof', both for erbacce-press.
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