People Ask Me If I Have Children

People Ask Me If I Have Children

people ask me, do you have children?
and no answer i have can explain
so i joke about it
that feels like the easiest fit
that fear,
that convention never arrived for me
but in fact not a thing has been experimental
it has all been,
so ridiculously conventional
it has only been on occasion,
non directional

when they ask, do you have children?
what can i say
i can only reflect and think back
to the time that slipped away
when dreams did finally drown
when my hope made of cheap clay
i can only say,
that my precious time stole it all away
and now, here.
i find myself in the midst of middle age




James Garratt – October 2018