How to eat frogs - by
Grandmothers croak welcome, and crows
watch from a sagging power line.
grandparents
Lukkie - by
Whan du telt me hoo du thowt o ‘luck’as nae mair as chance, de happy hubbelskjuo aentropie, I thowt onnly o de ben-endo my grandmidder’s hoose an aa her talismanso tat. Inbi, luck wis acht an lenned lik coins,hot fae de löf. Dere wis wyes aboot it:a sixpence fir de scratchcairds; tree skoiltso a gingernut […]
Left Behind - by
I cannot bring myself to burst your everywhere balloons
/ That cheer our rooms, mementos of delight,
/ Nor bundle bears, deep buried in…
Catalogue of my grandmother’s sayings - by
A bloody good hiding
/ Another egg chipped
/ …
Hanging On - by
I’m hanging on to your early days
/ when you can’t wait for me to arrive
/ for cuddles and tickles and…
Charades with Freya (7) - by
Animals are easy. I can do penguin waddle,
/ hoppy frog, snappy croc. And Actions – all
/ those ings – dancing,…
from Finding My Grandparents In the Peloponnese - by
x
/
/ On one face, the cistern built by the Turks,
/ now holding only dust and darkness
/ below its stone vault, where Monemvasía’s
/
/ rocky…
A Quiet Life - by
in memory of my grandfather
/ (after Schubert’s piano sonata in C minor D958)
/
/
/ Hammer-blows ring on a hull in dry-dock
/ then dazzling sparks…
For my Grandmother Knitting - by
There is no need they say
/ but the needles still move
/ their rhythms in the working of your hands
/ as easily
/ as if your…
My Grandmother’s Houses - by
1
/ She is on the second floor of a tenement.
/ From her front room window you see the cemetery.
/
/ Her bedroom is my…
Fife Child in the Fifties - by
They’ve long demolished the side-street by the Links
/ That set me journeying when I was six or so:
/ In my grandmother’s room…
Sleep - by
To my grandfather
/
/ Your sleep will postpone
/ the morning coffee,
/ so we’ll not be able to contemplate your blue eyes
/ As you sleep and…