Davo was your typical knockabout kid,
Sometimes an angel, other times a little shit,
Came from surroundings boisterous but harmonious, at times contentious,
Some would call his clan battlers, others westies and bogans,
A gun when it came to sports and games, average in the classroom,
Never made top grades, rather, just enough to keep his head above water,
Mild-mannered for the most part, but that fuse was kinda hot,
Not a big surprise, you’d understand if you’d ever met his pops.
Kimmy was a nice girl, all sugar and spice,
On the quiet side to be sure, fresh faced and wide-eyed,
Excelled academically, generally, never a source of teacher’s anxiety,
Held her own on the pitch, field or court, though she wasn’t one for sports,
We still at an age where boys and girls don’t mix, often giving one another icks,
Sit next to one or the other, guaranteed they’d call you names,
Back to our kiddos, Kimmy and Davo, very rarely did they chatter,
‘Til that fateful day when the former ran afoul of the latter.
It was just a friendly game of soccer, a mixed game for the young ones,
Friday sports for the morning, got boys and girls alike buzzing,
Davo, as expected, fired up and ready to go, proclaimed himself team captain, took to the role with gusto,
Fifteen to twenty minutes was the plan before recess, just to get the blood pumping,
But kids don’t take kindly to losing, competitive juices flowing, teacher should’ve seen it coming,
Had her hands full as the reluctant ref, broke up several scuffles,
Davo found the ball without much trouble, dashed straight for the goals on the double,
Not long now before the final whistle, 20 minutes almost over,
Went off in a flash, spun around and ran circles past defenders,
It was him against the keeper, one last shot at glory,
But out from the blue came Kimmy, with uncharacteristic urgency,
Shoved him to the grass, both palms forward, a flagrant foul at the game’s conclusion,
It was unintended, surely, but the recipient ain’t trying to hear it.
So angry was Davo, robbed of his golden moment,
Unleashed fire and brimstone on her, let her have it both barrels,
A string of expletives was the warm-up, threats of bodily harm followed,
Kept the bullets flying as they walked back to class until teacher reprimanded him for being an ass.
Recess failed to fan the flames, sport was not for fun and games,
So said the mind of Davo, that botched goal spiralling him to limbo,
Kimmy the target of his rage for the rest of the day,
Threats passive and aggressive, gestures, too, for good measure,
The venom still within his grasp even after lunch, school day’s third and final act,
As she passed his desk to sharpen a pencil, remember how we used to do that?
A piece of paper scrunched vindictively, hit her in the face, the one who hurled it chuckling, before he called her names,
Kimmy returned serve with some choice words, Davo countered in kind, the class held their breath, someone’s gonna start a fight,
Teacher intervened, scolded Davo for his impudence, demanded he write his victim a letter, apologizing for his petulance,
And so Davo complied but no words of contrition scrawled,
‘I’ll get you for this’, he scribbled onto paper in giant block letters,
Slammed it on her table without remorse, the teacher’s ire was to be his reward,
“Come up here now!” she scolded, up stood Davo with a contemptuous smirk.
Teacher wasn’t having it, sent him straight to the principal’s office,
Where they called his parents, sent him home to be punished,
In his young mind, all of it was worth it,
The things we build up as young’uns, look back on ‘em later, wistfully, those years of innocence,
There you go, a day in the life of Davo, a typical knockabout kid,
Sometimes an angel, other times a little shit.