He was 5 & I was 6
We rode on horses made of sticks.
His was green and mine was white,
(He could never get it right.)
Bang Bang – the games we played,
Bang Bang – the plans we made,
Bang Bang – how mem’ries fade,
Bang Bang – the games we used to play.
Bottle tops and salmon tins
We used to pull around on strings.
And medics had to intervene
Those times we played with kerosene.
Ring Ring – Intensive Care?
Ring Ring – Doctor Kildare
Brm Brm – I drove you there,
Brm Brm – Good thing I filled you up!
Picking teams from two was hard
When playing Tests in our backyard,
Mum would call us in for tea
Just as you neared a century!
Bang Bang – more broken glass
Bang Bang – we weren’t first class!
Crash Bang – kick up the #*@!
Crash Bang – we broke a lot of glass
Later as more time would pass
We’d set up for the Holy Mass
The egg-cups from Beirut would ring,
We’d call the faithful ones to sing.
Ring Ring – the church bells chime.
Ring Ring – Communion time.
Ring Ring – the Holy Feast.
Ring Ring – behold the Cowboy Priest.
Pistols packed and rifles slung,
Each one of us would have a gun,
Careful not to shoot no-one!
Bang Bang – we had a lot of fun.
Bang Bang – our brother’s guns.
Bang Bang – our mother’s sons.
Bang Bang – some petrol drums…
Bang Bang – we shot at lot of things!
We grew up & met our wives,
And for a time led separate lives.
Families filled our nights & days.
Work took us on our separate ways.
Bang Bang– it’s gone so fast.
Bang Bang – it’s in the past.
Childhood – it didn’t last.
Childhood – the games we used to play.
Soon you had become to me
A model of tenacity.
You studied hard for your degree,
And left behind the Found’ry.
Bang Bang -Accountancy
Bang Bang– numbers degree.
Ching Ching- it set you free.
Ching Ching – a calculated move.
Now the earth has spun
Another 60 times around the sun.
We are both now grand papas,
Our prostates kept in plastic jars.
Bang Bang – our lives are changed.
Bang Bang – been re-arranged.
Brothers – much closer now,
Brothers – we shared so much of life.
Epilogue:
He was 5 and I was 6,
We rode on horses made of sticks.
His was green, and mine was brown,
We rode our horses into town…..
The Watts Family 