He came from nowhere
and went back there,
wasn’t around in my first year, or third
only the second.
Would sometimes sing out loud, in the lab – surprisingly well –
gave an especially good rendition of My Eyes Adored You
so good, not even the po-faced issued a ban –
the lemons,
the ones born without a Christian name
always Mr or Dr or Professor.
Life after university …
always warm and expansive at 19.
Steve and the future :
thought he might develop a contraceptive gateau
then,
“people could eat their cake and have it too.”
And, as a plan B – politics,
stood in local and community elections
as Rusty Lead-Head, representing the corrugated iron party.
Springtime exams – Autumn enrolment,
he was there …… and then he wasn’t.
He never became tedious, or blowhard
or attention seeking
or down-shelfed to acknowledgement only –
he just disappeared.
Memory often pulls out his image,
polishes the recollection ……. and smiles.
Orphaned Islands (Un)poetry 