Waking at four in the morning ...

I see my dad's face when I wake at four in the morning - 

*

I see him as a wide eyed infant in a photographer's studio - 

There's a tall plant in a vase behind him - 

The market in Charlotte Street has just started - 

*

I see him as a dockyard apprentice, peaked cap at a saucy angle - 

I see him in tropical whites on the Duke of York - 

*

I see him older, a father now, gold rings round his sleeves - 

*

I see him walking down a street in Lagos - 

The crowd is celebrating independence - 

He's living the joyous moment - 

*

I see him, with his Chief Petty Officers, on the ramparts of Fort Saint Angelo - 

* 

I see him in his Armistice suit, in his eighth decade, smiling and dapper - 

*

Then I see him as I saw him last, in his new bed - 

All his faces are before me - 

The long night gives way to day - 

20.12 

Sunday 11 February 2018

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset