Charlie wasn’t good at school. | 1 |
His teacher always used to say, | 2 |
‘Charlie Walker, what a talker. | 3 |
Sit on the mat near me | 4 |
where I can see you Charlie Walker.’ | 5 |
His writing missed the lines | 6 |
and his rubbing out was smudged. | 7 |
but I liked to help him write his news | 8 |
for I was good and he was naughty, | 9 |
poor, unlucky Charlie Walker. | 10 |
I could see he was misunderstood, | 11 |
Dad in gaol and mum in bed | 12 |
with local bookie Wally Chalker, | 13 |
poor, afflicted Charlie Walker. | 14 |
When Antony scribbled | 15 |
on my stencil, Charlie stabbed him | 16 |
with a pencil. Hauled off | 17 |
to the naughty chair, | 18 |
as I passed I stroked his hair. | 19 |
Tousled hero Charlie Walker. | 20 |
At play I let him ride the leopard | 21 |
who lived among the waving grasses | 22 |
that grew behind the Junior classes, | 23 |
intrepid Charlie Walker. | 24 |
One day while we were climbing | 25 |
in our favourite apple tree, | 26 |
his face became a blur | 27 |
that I could barely see. | 28 |
I knew then it was time | 29 |
to let him go, to set him free, | 30 |
let him befriend another | 31 |
solitary child like me. | 32 |
Gone but not forgotten, | 33 |
Charlie Walker. | 34 |