“I think we’ve met before”
by Raymond Holt
An ex Cranleigh village Bobby
John was an excellent detective,
He outshone all the rest.
Threw himself into every case,
Always did his best.
Played cricket for the village team,
On Sunday rang church bells.
Helped organise the boy scouts
And sang in the choir as well.
Had strong traditional values,
Was humble till the end.
To young and old, good and bad
He remained a special friend.
One day John received a report
That could have made him shudder.
But John was used to stormy seas
And held onto the rudder.
He dealt with all the anguish,
The sorrow and the pain.
But didn’t know at the time,
His life was about to change.
The Judge said to John in court,
“So you’ve met the defendant before?”
The Judge was not a happy man
And showed poor John the door.
He could have met him anywhere,
A cricket match or rally.
A carnival. An auction.
Or The Royal Opera House Ballet.
The Airport. The Station.
A holiday on the moors.
Some would argue, does it matter?
If he’d met him once before.
He threw his car keys to a friend
And ambled out of Court.
Some people asked him how it went,
His eyes said what he thought.
John strolled back to the nick,
At least three miles or more.
Those eyes. Those eyes. They said it all.
His heart was on the floor.
He walked into the office
And quietly cleared his desk.
Then got into his car,
I think you know the rest.
Now sadly it’s all over
And time to close the door.
God never said don’t speak the truth,
“I think we’ve met before.”
LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER
Copies are available by email:
for a list price of £7.99
And also available used on Amazon
Take a look at some of Raymond’s other poems HERE
