A Poem by John Redmond

Friday, in the evening

a spreadeagled toddler                              

                                 under a pub-bench

where his parents sit

                                 in uproarious conclave

not everyone wants shadow

not everyone wants to     blow you    

                    off their arm     aphid                   

bye     

I shield my eyes

                          to see F fielding

out in the deep    

as a man    another parent?

                          limps past     so theatrically    

I worry for his beer   

“Friday, in the evening”

there was a guy years ago     who liked to praise

                      the opening     of Borstal Boy  

I wonder did he manage     to keep it going

                                               being literary?

a girl parts    her waist-length     blonde hair

                  after every cartwheel

a ball rolls softly into the side of a woman’s face

John Redmond is the author of three collections with Carcanet, the last one being The Alexandra Sequence (2016).