David Chadwick

A poem for the month - September

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Last Tuesday, I Saw Eric Clapton

Last Tuesday, I saw Eric Clapton.

He was in the post office.

He looked a bit lost to be honest.

He was waiting in the stamp queue,

but then he went over and stood in front of the magazines.

I could see that he wasn’t really interested in buying one though.

He was just killing time, and trying not to stand out. 

He was pretty successful at that.

Nobody else recognised him,

but then again, why would they?

They wouldn’t really expect him to be there.

He was wearing those glasses that make him look like a startled owl,

and he had that unshaven look he often has,

but he was wearing a cap and an old brown coat, so that probably threw people off the scent.

He was there for several minutes, and then he wandered off.

I had to post a package, so I couldn’t follow him –

not that I would have of course.

The man is entitled to his privacy.

My mother used to see people she thought she knew

quite often. She didn’t see celebrities though.

They were people she used to know back in England –

old friends who had passed on, but generally she was mistaken.

I haven’t seen Eric again, even though I’ve kept an eye out for him,

but I did see Sting yesterday. He was in the dairy

buying a snapper card.