George Barker

Epitaph for Many Young Men(In Memoriam P. F. J., 1951)

In that ordinary year of anxiety and rain,

Some distinguished anniversaries and many crimes,

A young and quiet man died by a fireplace.–

Such things happen everywhere at times.

And yet the fish in a small river near Reading

Will sometimes look up and wonder

Why his dark sad face no longer leans over them

And smiles as the float bobs under.

And the promoters of a famous football pool

Receiving no answer to any

Of their constant solicitations, will they guess

Death has taken that penny?

For now the aggrandising and first dignity

Has turned to stone

That quiet and dark young man, and he lies for ever

In a grave that will never be known.

GEORGE BARKER (1953)