Paul Bell

The Street

The street seemed so much smaller now

The grime and the smell were still the same though

Engrained like the people who lived there

It was the only thing that never left him

She stayed at twenty-three

One tough girl

Christ, he still remembers the day she knocked him out

Slightly concussed, he proposed to her

Not bad for a twelve-year-old

She couldn’t stop laughing

She wasn’t marrying no wimp that day

In fact, her daily ritual was knocking him down

Mum, is love painful

If it’s true love, it can be

It was, his head was testament to that

He just kept going back for more

To give her, her due, she was happy to give it to him

One day he told her straight. I don’t care how many times you knock me down. I’m going to be your boyfriend. He waited for the punch

She kissed him

He fell down again

She starting laughing

It felt like the greatest feeling ever

They became inseparable after that

Young love had conquered

One day she told him she was going away

I’m going with you

It’s not that kind of going away

Is there another kind

It’s the dying kind of going away

Yes, but you won\'t die for a long time

A year the doctors said

That didn’t make sense to him

We’ll just have to make the most of it, she said

Make the most of it

The most precious year of his young life

She died the way she lived.

Demanding he did the best he could with his life

There were times when he really struggled

Times he thought of joining her

The pain in his head always changed that

Even in death, she got to him

The years passed by

He made good

She would be proud of him

The street seemed so much smaller now

The grime and the smell were still the same though

Engrained like the people who lived there

It was good to be home...