Helen and I
were sitting on
the grass in front
of Banks House
it was a Sunday morning
bright and warm
she had her hair
in 2 plaits
and her thick lens glasses
enlarged her eyes
which were
peering at me
so he shot you?
she said
looking concerned
yes the creep shot me
in the back while
I wasn't looking
I said
so who
was it again?
she said
Pat Garrett
he's sheriff
or something
like that
I said
and you
were Billy the Kid?
she said
flicking one
of her plaits of hair
behind her shoulder
yes but I had
a good life while I did
I said
she nodded
I saw him in a film
at the flicks
I said
Robert Taylor
was him in it
my old man took me
she looked at the 6
shooter gun
in my holster
on the grass
how many guns
have you got?
she asked
I have 3
I said
and a rifle
sometimes I have
2 guns on me
in holster
sometime I have 1
why 2?
she said
so I can shoot 2
bad guys at once
or if I'm the baddie
then 2 marshals
she frowned
which do you
like best to be?
she said
I like playing Wyatt Earp
if I'm a good guy
or Billy the Kid
if I'm a bad guy
she passed me
a sherbet lemon sweet
from a white paper bag
and I sucked it
she talked of her doll
Battered Betty
who lost an arm
when her little brother
smashed her against
a wall but her dad
fixed it
and it has 2 arms
now again
I picked up
my 6 shooter
and took it out
of the holster
and began to polish it
she talked on
about her dolls' shoes
white ones but one
had gone missing
and she thought
her brother may
have stolen it
I sucked another
sherbet lemon
cleaning my gun
part of my Sunday
morning fun.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem