Where are you now, Albie Taylor?
You, whose borstal dotted fists
held a small boy’s hand
over a lit bunsen burner
until there were bubbles
and screams.
Did die by the sword, Albie Taylor?
Or was your time interrupted
by a series of sentences?
Or perhaps a father
and grandad now,
passing on life’s harsh lessons.
For this was surely the way
that you learned yours.
My dear old dad had a saying
about poor kids like you, Albie:
“You beat one devil out of them
and ten new ones in.”
Harry Gallagher
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