Thinking of Daniel
 
I still recall the day that I met Dan.
With impish grin, his eyes met mine as though
We'd met each other many years ago,
And soon a close relationship began.
Just fifteen years was I, one older than
This boy, the elf who'd shot me with his bow,
Yes, Eros had decreed it should be so!
But forty years have passed since I've seen Dan.
At school we'd lark and wrestle where all could see,
What made them think it wasn't merely play?
The teachers were alarmed: "This should not be!"
They got at Daniel: he was sent away.
He vanished from my life quite totally,
Yet still I think of Daniel to this day.
 
Copyright © July 2016 Alan John Branford

 
In 1974, I was in the 'Leaving' or sixth form (now called 'Year 11') at school. A spare classroom was made available to a chess club to use during daily breaks, and I was put in charge of overseeing the operation of the room. This room was in the fifth-upper form (now called 'Year 10') block. One day, a boy from the fifth-upper form appeared at the window, a cheeky grin on his face. His name was Daniel T******** and he was a boarder at the School; his parents lived interstate. Immediately, so it seemed, we became firm friends. I do not recall what became of the chess club arrangement, but very soon Daniel and I were spending every break in each other's company, larking and wrestling in the fifth-upper form block. However, not only did the other boys start making jibes about the closeness of our relationship, but also our actions came to the attention of my Form Master and even the Headmaster. On many occasions one or other of them would ask me about the nature of my relationship with Daniel, and even on one occasion my Form Master grabbed me by the ear when I was with Daniel and dragged me all the way to the sixth form block before he let go.
 
Towards the end of the year, Daniel abruptly became very cold towards me, and our meetings ceased. I was confused as well as upset. I learned eventually that Daniel was to finish up at the School at the end of that year and move to a School in his home state. I never ascertained the real reason for this move.
 
It was late November or early December that I was on my way from the sixth form block to the examinations hall for my Leaving Chemistry Public Examination. The most direct route happened to take me through the fifth-upper form block. At the top of the stairs stood Daniel, dressed in full School uniform rather than the lighter summer one, and I inferred that this must be his final day. His eyes met mine as I approached the top of the stairs. We stood for a short moment, and then Daniel turned and walked away. I proceeded to the examinations hall. Not a word was spoken. Despite numerous attempts on my part over the years to track Daniel down, I have so far been unsuccessful. Over forty years have now passed, but I still would like to hear from Daniel exactly what had happened. I fear, however, that he most likely will not even remember who I am.
 
This sonnet is written in a strict Petrarchan form, with a total of only four rhymes, two in the octave and two in the sestet. The classical Petrarchan structure of A B B A A B B A C D C D C D has been used. The adherence to this formal structure is intended to give the poem the solemnity that the story deserves.
 
It is intriguing to compare this sonnet with the sonnet "In Silent Dream", which was written late in 1974 in the same Petrarchan form.
 
(July 2016)
 

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