(i)
Each year, in early December
Grandma would oblige
by falling over
and dislocating something
In hospital, on Christmas Day
all the family would visit
Sit round the bed
and gobble up her dinner.
(ii)
To eke out extra money
during the summer holidays
my schoolfriends and I
would go nit-picking
Conditions were terrible
and the pay was poor
But there were perks:
We were allowed to keep the eggs.
(iii)
If we could have afforded a bath
We would have had the best. A fine one.
Iron. Broad as a bed, deep as the ocean.
Standing in wingèd feet, proud as a lion.
And oh, what coal we would have stored in it.
Nuggets, big as babies’ heads, still blinking
In the daylight. Black as wedding-boots,
So polished you could see your face in them.
And oh, what stories we might have told,
Seated round the hearth on winter nights
The fire crackling, the flames leaping,
Amber liquor sparkling in crystal glasses.
Unfortunately, we were too poor to know stories.