Shooting Pigeons With Your Fingers

[Guest The Shaman]

Shooting pigeons with your fingers by Jim Bennett

 

In 1964 Billy Blackstock

fingers held like a gun

was playing at shooting pigeons

as he shouted "BANG"

a pigeon fell down dead

 

I saw Billy last week

and like every other time since then

he points his finger

like a gun and shouts "Bang"

and just like every other time

I say "Glad your aim's no better"

and somewhere in the chat

we talked about that bloody bird

again

 

I realized then that he has been

trying to fire his finger now

for over forty years

 

another guy I know

once found three half crowns

wrapped up in a five pound note

spoke about his good fortune

long after the money was spent

and ever since kicks at

paper and moves pavement rubbish

with his toe.

worse perhaps

he walks head down

scouring pavements

just ahead

for the tell tale signs

of treasure

he thinks he is the luckiest guy on earth

finding pennies most days

and always telling people

how lucky he is

 

I'm glad I never shot a pigeon

with my finger

or found a treasure trove

on a pavement

I don't think I could stand

the pressure

 

me I wrote a poem for my mum

she loved it

showed it to all her friends

for all the years before her death

would tell of how

I once wrote a poem for her

 

that was years ago

and I often think how odd it is

that a moment

years before can echo through a life