Memorial.
I saw your face as we walked past yesterday
At the end of a race. You were leaning against
The. back of a car that was open like an army truck.
And you were smiling at something just said to you.
The day was cloudy with bursts of yellow sunlight
Drenching the hills and making the jockeys' colours
Shine. and the tops of the cars like a metallic sea
Of russet and blue stretched across the course
With ropes and marquees and bookies' stands
And blanketted horses at the end of ropes being walked
And trotted. You had a black moustache, I remember.
And soft, flushed cheeks like a girl.
And a smile
That was curious and abashed as if expecting
All sorts of wonders of which you were innocent.
But then I remembered you were dead. No longer
Among the moving men and women of this field.
Bit in silence.
Like the breeze that came past our ears
And went in a dainty whispering towards the paddock.
I remembered you were killed, complaining of a pain
In your arm where you weren't hit. I almost stopped.
You wore my hat when you died. I can remember
Your name: Captain Maugham. Even now a sweetness
Surrounds it for me. You were gentle, I remember.
You never used harsh words.
One afternoon near Cassino
You asked. to borrow my cap before you went up,
And I turned as you were leaving and said, - Don't forget
To come back!' And with the same abashed smile
You opened your mouth as if I'd shown you the future
And said, 'I hope so!' I wish it had been you
By the car, leaning there talking, mildly amused,


Memorial.
I saw your face as we walked past yesterday
At the end of a race. You were leaning against
The back of a car that was open like an army truck.
And you were smiling at something just said to you.
The day was cloudy with bursts of yellow sunlight
Drenching the hills and making the jockeys' colours
Shine. and the tops of the cars like a metallic sea
Of russet and blue stretched across the course
With ropes and marquees and bookies' stands
And blanketted horses at the end of ropes being walked
And trotted.
You had a black moustache, I remember.
And soft, flushed cheeks like a girl. And a smile
That was curious and abashed as if expecting
All sorts of wonders of which you were innocent.
But then I remembered you were dead. No longer
Among the moving men and women of this field.
Bit in silence.
Like the breeze that came past our ears
And went in a dainty whispering towards the paddock.
I remembered you were killed, complaining of a pain
In your arm where you weren't hit. I almost stopped.
You wore my hat when you died. I can remember
Your name: Captain Maugham. Even now a sweetness
Surrounds it for me. You were gentle, I remember.
You never used harsh words.
One afternoon near Cassino
You asked. to borrow my cap before you went up,
And I turned as you were leaving and said, 'Don't forget
To come back!' And with the same abashed smile
You opened your mouth as if I'd shown you the future
And said, 'I hope so!' I wish it had been you
By the car, leaning there talking, mildly amused,


With' the same smile, at some thing beyond you;
Your grace wouldn't have changed.
There was something
Of grace beyond men in your eyes.
You were hardly
More than a boy. It has only just occurred to me,
That. your's was the smile of a boy. We were boys then,