Category Archives: Family

At Granny’s

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At Granny’s there are lovely stairs
Just made for climbing up and down.
And Pusscat tries to hide from me
Up on the landing out of sight.
I don’t know why she runs from me.
It must be Puppy that she fears
But sees in me another dog
For I, like dogs, am quadruped.
With Granny near in case I fall
(‘Though why I’d do that I can’t tell!).
I kneel upon the lowest step,
Hold tight the bars and start to climb.
I sometimes see the bushy tail
Between the rungs, just out of reach,
But every time I climb a stair
The Pusscat moves on noiselessly.
I reach the landing but she’s gone,
Completely vanished, then I see
The bathroom’s open, small and pink.
I crawl inside and out of sight
I play with Granny’s powder puff.

The Music Box

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Daddy returned from Holland
With a music-box for me.
He pulled a string and from inside,
As clear as clear could be,
A little tune came tumbling out
Like moonlight on the sea.

I held it up against my ear
As I lay still in bed.
The moonlight filled my tiny room,
The music filled my head,
And when at last I fell asleep,
I dream of it instead.

February 1980

Lichens of the mind

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I come each year to where my father lies
And read again the polished granite stone,
Which tells me that he died on such a date,
At such an age and may he Rest in Peace.
The formula is bare, so much unsaid,
And with each year becomes more indistinct
As images I hold become concealed
Behind eroding lichens of the mind.

August 1985