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Michael Bartholomew-Biggs

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Albert

(i.m. A.B. 1921-1994)

‘Na’ then’,
he would say,
to let us know he expected our attention:
and the flat South Yorkshire vowels
were stacked up ready for a change of subject.

‘Na’ then, lad’,
he’d greet me every visit
to let me know I had the floor,
to tell him how I’d been and how I’d come -
by which route around the roadworks
slowing down his city’s heart.
His pride was still his skill to pick
the best way over seven hills from any A to B.

‘Na’ then’
would begin each reminiscence
for the children, Grandad unabashed by repetition:
‘This partickler tale I’m goin’ to tell
you’ve heard before
but anyhow I’ll tell it you again
to let you know how things have changed
since I were your age’.

Since he went
the further change has been
not just a trip from A to B:
‘Na’,  more like from A ter bloody Z’.

Page(s) 6

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