Grandad 1930
Granddad
Grand lad
Blanket row
to
East Yorkshire
Regiment
Battle garland
“Oppy wood”
18 yrs old
Covered in mud
Killing and dying
Mired in blood
Lived to
Be broken
Lived to be token
Of the man who
Left grandma’s house.
Became fist fighter
Became bare knuckle
Fighter
Champion
Drunkard
Champion of
Old Hull
With his
naked fists
Every Sunday
After church
Before the pub
Investigated for
Murder
With a bayonet
Beat grandma
After every session
To teach her
A lesson
Only he knew.
He died young
Head damaged
Body ravaged
And grandma
With a legacy
Of seven mouths
And knees bent
To parish
Said….
“I’ll never have
Another man
Even if he has
Diamonds coming out
Of his arse”!
raypool
Sat 2nd Mar 2019 22:32
The way you've made the lines into columns gives this a feel of a role call Phil for me. Packs a punch - I think It would be an education to bring characters like this back to the streets and see how they fare and how we would fare with them now.
There is a sense that they inhabit a murky half world.
Ray