The Common Stream Copyright © Rob Lock 2011

It was the comma that gave the master away,
that and the post-script ‘for distance’.
Had he left it at ‘Caned
for urinating competitively’
we would never have guessed
how quickly he could be taken back
to a childhood where distance, height, accuracy
were currency, buying one in for a while.

He will have died a long time ago now,
buried between bird scarers, stone pickers,
other piss poor: all holding him
at best in affectionate contempt -
but with one log book entry
still keeping his fame alive, locally at least.
I wish I could remember his name.