Twelve year old Smiley
Never saw Thirteen.
Never had a snog.
Or smoke a crafty cigarette
Before thinking better of it.
He never had to sit an exam
Lucky thing.
Never drove a car.
Never went with his pals
For his first pint in a pub,
Like a real adult does.
He never had sex.
Never lived to have regrets
About the way
He repeated
Some of the very mistakes
That were made on him.
He never held his own son, and wondered what that boy would become.
I’ve done all of these things. And I have no reason, no reason whatsoever, not to smile on Smiley’s behalf.