Gran mostly wore
a full-length
pinafore apron
with a pouch pocket
at the front
where she kept
her matches and cigarettes.
My mother said
not to worry Nan
or ask for things.
I went through the kitchen
into the sitting-room
while my mother stood
and talked with Gran.
Grandad was sitting
in his big armchair
by the fire
breathing heavy
after each puff
of his cigarette.
I sat on a chair
by the door
gazing at him
hunched over
gazing at his slippers.
"How are you Boy?"
He said.
I sat up straight.
"I'm all right Grandad"
I said.
He breathed in deep
like a diver
before he dived.
"Don't get old Boy."
I studied his wheezing
and his hunched back.
I could hear
my mother and Gran talking
from the next room.
The big clock on the shelf
chimed loudly the hour.
Grandad offered me
a humbug sweet
from his cardigan pocket
from a white paper bag.
I stood up
and took a sticky humbug
with my little boy fingers.
That image of Grandad
after all those sixty years
still lingers.
Apr 7, 2018
Apr 7, 2018 at 1:58 PM UTC
Gran mostly wore
a full-length
pinafore apron
with a pouch pocket
at the front
where she kept
her matches and cigarettes.
My mother said
not to worry Nan
or ask for things.
I went through the kitchen
into the sitting-room
while my mother stood
and talked with Gran.
Grandad was sitting
in his big armchair
by the fire
breathing heavy
after each puff
of his cigarette.
I sat on a chair
by the door
gazing at him
hunched over
gazing at his slippers.
"How are you Boy?"
He said.
I sat up straight.
"I'm all right Grandad"
I said.
He breathed in deep
like a diver
before he dived.
"Don't get old Boy."
I studied his wheezing
and his hunched back.
I could hear
my mother and Gran talking
from the next room.
The big clock on the shelf
chimed loudly the hour.
Grandad offered me
a humbug sweet
from his cardigan pocket
from a white paper bag.
I stood up
and took a sticky humbug
with my little boy fingers.
That image of Grandad
after all those sixty years
still lingers.
