Jonothan

For thirty years his mere existence
Never crossed my mind.
Out of sight through time and distance,
Memory is blind.
A slim youth then, now paunched and greying,
It can not be said
That thoughts of Jonothan came straying
Once into my head.

But suddenly, a name! Oh dare I
Cast my twirling line
Back to those dark waters where I
Thought no sun could shine?
I, attracted to the city
And its neoned names,
Jonothan evoked my pity
For his simple aims.

I smothered in a tiny village,
Gasping out for breath,
Crying out to strike and pillage
‘Ere I choked to death.
Jonothan lived with his father
In a hillside shack,
Never saying once he’d rather
Leave his mountain track.

I caught the village bus the last time,
Never once turned round,
Never tempted by the pasttime
Of my native ground.
All my links I chose to sever,
Freedom unconfined
My old pal for long years never
Crossed my dazzled mind.

Does he still live in his cottage,
Circled by his sheep,
With his lamp of lowly wattage
Dulling him to sleep.
Do the cattle keep him busy,
Shirtsleeved in the scree.
Jonothan – I wonder is he
Happier than me?