[Lyric] By the River - Prologue (Steven Herrick)

"The colours of my town"

"Red
was Johnny Barlow
with his lightning fists
that drew blood in a blur.
Yellow
was Urger,
who stood behind,
with crooked teeth,
spitting and cursing.
Blue
was Miss Spencer's eyes,
pale and shining,
and fading distant grey
as the taxi drove away.
Green
was my dad's handkerchief,
ironed,
pressed into the pocket
above his heart;
a box of handkerchiefs
Mum gave him on his birthday
two week before she died.
Brown
was dry grass all summer,
a dead snake,
cane toads squashed flat,
our house smeared in oil;
nothing that lives,
nothing that shines.
White
was Mum's nightgown,
the chalk Miss Carter used
to write my name,
hospital sheets,
and the colour of Linda's cross."