(content warning) I Forget His Name (or "The Shallowness of Youth")

[billy]

I knew him in my last years
of high school, when we both
studied A-Level English. slow opener, the tension mounts

stilted, pretentious, and boring,
he adored Christie, Ms. Agatha,
that twee old lady crime writer,
and thus thought himself "better," would 'better' be better?
I think, even though his taste
was on a par with my Nan's,
and he treasured the same
dross I ditched at fourteen. some good insights

he was homophobic, too,
in that "gay panic" way, would 'gay panic' be better?
where the thought of anal
sex made him shiver,
check the cupboard for
monsters and pull the would a comma work better than an 'and'
sheets close, and hold his
girlfriend's hand like one
would the cross.

but he rather liked me,
was handsome as hell
(if hell is handsome) for me this line feels forced and unneeded
had rough callused skin
and a pleasant buttocks, is 'a' needed?
concealed by skinny
stonewash jeans, great images in the narrative

so I forgave the man
his trespasses,

like the good Christian
I am. undecided about the end three lines, somehow they feel a little trite/forced (to me)

it starts off well and just gets better. the narrative is excellent. a little prosy but still poetical. if i had a nit it would be (could a metaphor or an internal rhyme be used on an odd occasion, if not that, then a bit of assonance etc) jmo

thanks for the read jack, i enjoyed it.