Jim Lindop
Grandad
We hold this century by stretched fingertips.
At one end you, a larrikin of ten
at its auspicious start, tow-headed slip
of Lancashire lad; me, at this sharp end,
with eyes more knowing, fifty-five; my Dad
and Grandad tempered in two holocausts,
while Mums and aunts and sisters patched their mad,
slow nights with homespun. All those nightmare thoughts
osmotically transmitted through their kids,
until we knew war days would have to cease.
You suffered Ypres. Your sure world had slid
from cock-a-hoop to cock-up - no release.
We hold this century at its frantic nodes,
and both of us sad victims of its codes.
At one end you, a larrikin of ten
at its auspicious start, tow-headed slip
of Lancashire lad; me, at this sharp end,
with eyes more knowing, fifty-five; my Dad
and Grandad tempered in two holocausts,
while Mums and aunts and sisters patched their mad,
slow nights with homespun. All those nightmare thoughts
osmotically transmitted through their kids,
until we knew war days would have to cease.
You suffered Ypres. Your sure world had slid
from cock-a-hoop to cock-up - no release.
We hold this century at its frantic nodes,
and both of us sad victims of its codes.
Page(s) 33
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