Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Robert Verdon, #407, when you are twelve


they had a ham radio mast in the back-yard
with the station in the garage
it was the mid-sixties
so everything felt modern
progress was assured now
we were nearly on the moon
my first fumblings
with either sex were unpromising
nuclear annihilation was not assured
when you are twelve that’s what it’s like

2 comments:

  1. Robbie, I like this poem very much. If it's about yourself, I think we are of the same vintage. I turned 12 in 1965...and I was no more and no less a victim of my childhood than any other kid before or since. I wised up a couple of years after that. But I also have gentle memories of a time when it seemed we believed that science, maybe as amends for the A-bomb, was poised to make the world a much better place. Anyhow I spent a lot of time looking at lots of stuff with my microscope; I remember telling people I wanted to be a scientist - I wanted to enter Nature. Instead I became a poet. Which is maybe the same thing. Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was twelve in '66 — progress seemed possible to me then not just because of science but also due to the influence of socialist ideas, though not of the Joe Stalin variety of course. Had notions of becoming an astronomer but that never materialised! Becoming a poet is similar, but pays even less!
    Glad you like the piece. :)

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.