The best days

Latin. The hollow tedium
of a winter afternoon.
The day was turned upside down.
Later, mummy would arrive
and take me home for half-term.

I was always the last boy in the dorm.

When daddy left us and moved out.

I wasn’t disappointed at all.

I didn’t miss my family, why would I?

That school was good for me.
I was never lonely.

They sent me there because

one should be tested by adversity.

How else could a man show his mettle
than on the playing field or in battle

On the Somme or at Mycenea?

Cold mornings in the gym.
The horse, like a blank wall
was high enough to challenge Odysseus.

Blood splattered my shorts.
I did not cry in the sick room.

The team played badly
but in the fading light
from defeat snatched a sudden victory.

They sent me home.

When the business went bust
we sold the family house.
There is no failure, only challenge
mother said

Brave Horatius guards the bridge.

The sand of the desert is sodden red.

The best days lie ahead of us.