Jake Wild Hall

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White City

I knew his name and age were both the opposite of senior 
I remember how my ears popped and his mother cried 
I remember my parents and my body saying go back to bed
in life often there is someone then that someone is dead
we all had our rumours / turned quiet when the police arrived 
kicking stones a throw from where his mother grieved 
all the parents relegated the toy guns to the bedroom for months
I wonder if they knew what imagery can do to a heart
if they had already practised holding a child for the last time
we couldn’t move for handcuffs / the hold on us / silence after sirens / the absence of boyhood
they only searched the innocent ones

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JAKE WILD HALL is one half of Bad Betty Press. He is currently working on his first collection Alanis Morissette.