The Identification: A Poem by Roger McGough

A father is called to identify the body of his son, but his reaction is not what one might expect

Performance poet Roger McGough (born 1937) has been producing thought-provoking and humorous poems for more than 40 years and is rightly considered to be one of the best ambassadors for poetry currently at work today.

“The Identification” is from his 1973 collection “Gig”:

So you think its Stephen?
Then I’d best make sure
Be on the safe side as it were.
Ah, theres been a mistake. The hair
you see, its black, now Stephens fair …
Whats that? The explosion?
Of course, burnt black. Silly of me.
I should have known. Then lets get on.

The face, is that the face mask?
that mask of charred wood
blistered scarred could
that have been a child’s face?
The sweater, where intact, looks
in fact all too familiar.
But one must be sure.