That he knows me
seems, more than anything
to annoy him

first, a hesitant hello
that I return

before the proclamation
I know you!

followed by a question
a series of questions
Was it school? No…was it?
You’re Johnny’s brother, are you?
Do you get the 120 to Dublin?
Where do you drink?

Wait, don’t tell me…

before, finally, statements
I definitely know you.
That’s going to annoy me now.
You’re not one of the Murrays…
It’s not from mass, that’s for sure!

the queue shuffles forward
his turn comes, he pays
a breakfast roll and a Red Bull
walks out
with a smiling reminder
that he knows me
from somewhere

we have never met
in school, on the bus
in the pub, at mass
have never crossed paths at all
he does not know me, but I
know him





Steve Denehan’s new poetry collection, Taillights Disappearing, is out now.