I was an only child, one of five.

The ghost of a brother, dead before I was born,

Followed me out with my mates.

The sound of my mothers voice rang in my head.

“Don't climb trees. Remember George.”

Impossible for me to forget

what wasn't possible

for me to remember.

Just an only child, one of five.

A sister in her teens when I was born

is briefly a sort of mother,

then disappears

to the Air Force,

from which

she returns a stranger.

To an only child, one of five.

Another sister is a mother

although only a child herself.

Living a couple of miles away

hers was a place to go

away from my old mum.

Her only child. One of five.

My brother has left

his privileged school.

The scholarship for a poor kid over

and he needing to go from the

father he couldn't live with.

Just an only child. One of five.

I am an only child. One of five.