8th December

My mother's birthday is the day
on which John Lennon died.
Each year it swings around:

her mouth open as if she slept,
and his face radioed to all
the newspapers of the world.

Each of us has deaths
leaning  inside like
larrikins against a fence,

but on that day each year,
I imagine I hear her voice
humming

and his voice singing
Mother, you had me
but I never had you.

Andrew Burke

If you've any comments on his poems, Andrew Burke would be pleased to hear from you.