A poem from my “poetry journal” in Jim Papworth’s class, 1995 –

Please don’t vomit, Gabriel
and don’t forget your hat
Albert will be along soon
to put a bullet in your head
Please don’t kill John, Gabirel
he can’t be all that bad and
even though he double-crossed
you
he says he won’t come back
“Please,” he says, “Have a heart”
you smile and say, “What heart?”
and Bang!
He’s dead.

Thank you. Thank you very much.