MY UNCLE TOM

With the six o’clock news on Thursdays,

Uncle Tom, smelling of sweat and sawdust, brought

the Dandy – and the Beano! Unlooked-for,

like a lodger, in the bare, spared room over

the hall of brasses and ‘Off Valpariso’,

bachelor Tom had no more substance

than Lord Snooty or Desperate Dan.

He had been gassed twice and died of bronchitis

the year the King died of cancer. I lost

his chisels, which he honed but never used,

one by one in the garden. I cannot

shape my memories into life. His tools

rust in a stranger’s earth.

bachelorBeanobrasseschiselsDandyDesperate DanlodgerLord Snootysawdustsix o’clock newssweat‘Off Valpariso’