Shooting pigeons with your fingers
in 1964 Billy Blackstock
fingers held like a gun
was playing at shooting pigeons
as he shouted “BANG”
a pigeon fell down dead
I saw Billy last week
and like every other time since then
he points his finger
like a gun and shouts “Bang”
and just like every other time
I say “Glad your aim’s no better”
and somewhere in the chat
we talked about that bloody bird
again
I realized then that he has been
trying to fire his finger now
for over forty years
another guy I know
once found three half crowns
wrapped up in a five pound note
spoke about his good fortune
long after the money was spent
and ever since kicks at
paper and moves pavement rubbish
with his toe.
worse perhaps
he walks head down
scouring pavements
just ahead
for the tell tale signs
of treasure
he thinks he is the luckiest guy on earth
finding pennies most days
and always telling people
how lucky he is
I’m glad I never shot a pigeon
with my finger
or found a treasure trove
on a pavement
I don’t think I could stand
the pressure
me I wrote a poem for my mum
she loved it
showed it to all her friends
for all the years before her death
would tell of how
I once wrote a poem for her
that was years ago
and I often think how odd it is
that a moment
years before can echo through a life
-Jim Bennett
Tags: Shooting pigeons with your fingers, Jim Bennett
madhavi says:
haha!
absolutely lovely!
March 15th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
Neha says:
hmm i read this poem on wikipedia. i think u have a link to this on your about me page.
March 15th, 2006 at 02:10 pm
K. says:
wikipedia!!! I dunno!
Ya I have as link to this poem in my about me page.
March 15th, 2006 at 03:01 pm