• Hold your tongue
    Block your ears
    Don’t tell anyone
    Not even your peers

    Shut your eyes
    Shut your mouth
    None of this happened
    Talk that was foul

    Parents shouting at each other
    Hitting and swearing
    Everyone knows
    They’re a miserable pairing

    And while mum's not
    Bleeding on the floor
    He picks a dark shape
    From under his door a gun

    I run to help mum
    I sit next to her
    And help her up
    And see she's burnt

    We turn to dad
    As he takes turns
    Clicking the gun at us
    Until he finally shots himself

    We scream our lungs out
    Then mum gets up
    And gets two shovels
    Tells me to help her

    We picked dad up
    And took him to
    A corner of the yard
    And buried him where we stood

    Mum hugs me with the arm that’s not hurt
    And looks me right in the eye
    And says to me with a strained voice
    "You never saw this."