Geoffrey

Next door lived a lad
Called Geoffrey Merger
My first pal when we were ‘little men’
We used to watch the coal men
As they delivered coal
We counted all the sacks up to ten

Miners’ families
Got those ten bags free
We watched the men as bags fell to the floor
We tidied up for mum
When they’d delivered
Cleaning up the yard at the back door

One day my mother
Heard us playing
And Geoffrey made a statement not so nice
‘Hey Brian let’s play workmen,’ his suggestion
‘I’ll say, bloody hell
You, Oh Christ!’

My mother put a stop
To that proposal
No swearing was allowed with mum around
But she laughed aloud
Whenever she remembered
Two little lads playing on the ground

Geoffrey flitted
Went to live in Gin Pit
I went on pilgrimage to visit him one time
Its way out in the fields
It’s amazing
Gin Pit village
A proper little find

Never met again
Our stories parted
Never knew what became of him
But I never forgot his glorious suggestion
‘Bloody Hell Oh Christ’
That were him!

Brian Fahy
20 May 2021