He grew up on my street
The same age as me
A boy named Michael
On a street in Heaton Moor
Random pins on life's map
Kids separated by a few doors
We weren't really friends
And went to different schools
Moving in other circles
But we used to play together
From time-to-time as kids
At our mothers' bidding
Years divide you from youth
Lives divide and grow apart
I would never have kept in touch
How randomly it seems
The world stretches out
And touches so many lives
Silver fingers pierce a morning
Deadly fire flowers bloom
To touch a Stockport street
He moved to America
Lived a short life in New York
Worked in the WTC
Years later I found out
He died on floor ninety-three
That boy named Michael
MAWH, September 2017
For Michael Lomax
A childhood playmate
I barely remembered
Died aged 37, September 11th 2001
