NEW TERM .. come again?

NEW TERM

Saw them birds, large they were and soaring.  'They's a clan', grandpa said.'

I leaned on his arm, whispered, 'Gramps, when I'm big as you, gonna be a

buzzard an' fly off a bit - p'raps a 'sentry' of more of them wha'evers' an' ever so

happy.  If I was like funny old Chompy, would wag my tail up, down an'... an..

wherever room - go daft as a brush!' 

'Nother time, sandwiches sat safe in plastic bag, an' choc'late for energy.. just in

case. (Plus mac, whistle an' drink.) We all climbed the gate into Mucky Muffin

meadow, an' along the valley to the hill, then, up  puffin' we went to the very top -

peered down at villages an' all. Binoc'lars in hand, watched more them buzzards

soarin' high in the sky.

'Then, yeah,  think we stood a bit, after me had a good stretch. Gazed at them

buttercup fields.. looked like gold bully-yon given by Dick Turpin stole from rich

peeps in posh gear, hats wiv feathers. Okay, will stop me chattin'. Here tho'

Last week, the sun shone, you an' me went about wearin' shorts, thick socks,

walkin' boots, crinkled dubbed bright'

.. .. .. 

Talk about cold, was Ice-box air - real chilly, trembling like old Christmas scarves

and granny-knit gloves spurned, hands 'tween thighs warming.. not so innocent thoughts hanging on chestnut trees lining the avenue.Real noisy roads,  ant hills

on wheels,frantic, fume spewing traffic trying to beat must-do system, red - STOP, amber - ANXIOUS.. now - GO!

Bus stops, churning fumes, children, boys, girls, push-shove-swear for seats

clucking high pitched or voice breaking. Girls noising, looking at lads, breathing in

to look thin. Blouses' buttons loose a three. Lunchboxes raided:  smiles, yells,

nudges, whispers, ‘Swap, what you got?’‘None special - just cheese.' Hiding the

pork pie and crisps!

Books juggled, shuffled, quickly opened, elbows will perch pen-scratched surface.

Pencil, eraser sought, retrieved, all hidden in ripped plastic bag (newish satchell

early term lost) but enclosing a silver foil-wrapped biscuit. Project completed - just,

groaned over, blobs, blots, bleatings and curses ripely unready for another term of

boring, useless lessons.

.. .. .. 

Ice-box air trembled icicles inside  bathroom windows,  soap too much wet, fell

on floor. Said  F word twice, tastes good! Thirteen,  granny-knit gloves spurned

hands 'tween thighs warming. Innocent?  Chestnut trees lining Spangle Avenue.

 grew four inches, left church choir threw away gran’s hymnal, jigsaw puzzle

done in minutes. F-ing borrrrring.

Gramps got ill soon after and I cried, searched for his old blue scarf but was all

all gone to hid his old oak chest. Then again.  Gramps stopped speaking, grew

whiskers he'd never showed before, they woz grey  thick, curly an' straight. Nobody cared'.  Mum would say  an old a man his age could do whatever he wanted, and, the old boy did! 

it were Christmas  again with crackers, cake, trifle, too much of some, too little

of others! The best ones made me feel sick but anyway!  The orn'ry stuff was okay but it just went down the throat and that was that. I liked the other stuff to be honest. Gramps said the same. We loved him whatever he said.. even when he fell asleep., which got quite a lot sometimes 

Come the new year, I grew, new shoes to wear-in. Hair cut - neat rotten it was.

Day or so on. On some Saturday or another,  he said, ‘I’m off for a sky fly - Coming, boy?'  Off went: him in old dressing gown, me in a vest and shorts. Freezing

cold it was but it was like an adventure. We were, making memories I never forgot. Funny kept calling me Joe - dad's name. Right funny old boy. 

Reviews

[Ken Simm.]

Such a warm for the most part remembrance of a lovely childhood. Amazingly well written through the child's eyes. And I am not so foolish to believe that is not if only in parts true. Cosy is the word I perhaps am looking for.

[redd Brick Keshner]

Glad to have thoughts as these put together and recorded for posterity. Times such as these don’t come back and when they do, never exactly the same. 🙏🏻🕊

[emmajoygreen]

Yes, sentiment and closeness like that is rarer than was.. I remembered tales told way, way back and reconstructed what - to be honest, came to me and stayed! Many thank yous, red Brick Keshner.

[redd Brick Keshner]

Most welcome, emmajoygreen 🙏🏻🕊

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

“Nine there were. 'A clan', grandpa said.
I leaned on his arm, whispered,
'Gramps, when I'm big as you,
Gonna be a buzzard an' fly off a bit
and happy”

This is the story of an Innocent, pristine, beautiful childhood described in flowing imagery blessed by a poetic mind in incomparable, lilting, colloquial language… this is a “Poem Written by EmmaJoy”- as only she can. You had me spellbound listening, feeling, hearing, imagining… wishing my childhood could have been such as this. I envy you your “Gran” and “Gramps” and your unreachable skill. Thank you my Em-Brava!

[emmajoygreen]

Hello and many thanks, dear adopted mom!! May I admit that those words are like a child to me, they came to me as I began to scribble and barely fidgeted til done - truly. Was meant to be - sentimental or not. Has a heart bound by another which can never be a love too much, it's heart runs over with an infinite light.

(Dear Lady Precious)

[Lorry]

A glimpse behind the fiction of your mind, where moments cherished once lived, before becoming memories.
Even in fiction you find cherished truths and from the memories come little bits of reality, Wether the character is male or not.
Why is it that we grow in such violent increments in youth, where someone's passing jolts us senseless into seeing the world as it truly is and a little bit of innocence us list. Yet those cherished images forever remain with us and grow us into the people we now are.
An interesting write, with a hint of a diary entry thought to it.
Very nicely captured Emma.

[emmajoygreen]

What a concise yet gently generous review, Lorry. Many, many thank yous.. truly mean that. I'm fond of this poem: arrived uninvited quite a while ago. Came from goodness knows where! Never knew my grandpas.