Brian Strand Poet Bio

Further Family Stories Recited

BLOTTED OUT
He loved,but could not say
such words,he could not find;
He loved,but could not touch
such warmth,was just too much;
He was proud,but could not praise
such sounds he could not raise;
He supported,but not with words
such feelings,witheld unheard;
Sentiment,tight reined close within
banished, unvoiced by him,
embittered by his own hurt,
a scarred child 'neath his hairshirt.
In that distant past,crippled emotions lay
imprisoned,unsaid,'til his dying day.

 BUCKINGAM LACE
Sussanah
                great grandma
          times three
 a pillow puffed
         up on her knee
with daughter
   in cobbled Cowfair
       daily shaped 
their 
homespun ware

 Within such humble 
         women dwelt 
a rare 
      & dextrous art
fashioned out
stitch by 
        stitch
pillowed  patterns so rich
  tinkling bobbins 
 bewildering skill
    inch by inch grew 
the intricate 
              frill
Twisting threads
      in pairs & groups
knitted
   together 
       as interlocking loops
a  town craft
                 then
 of world renown 
plain or old point 
   hand made  lace
lost foever
       with  no longer 
a trace

COWFAIR TO ANCHORAGE
We left our abode in old Cowfair,haggled
a price for an old shire mare.Onto the 
landlord's canal boat,lock stock and barrel
for a life afloat.Farewell to our Buckingham
birthplace ,a meagre living from old point 
lace.Dawdled up to Cosgrove,  meals around 
a blackened stove.This  moveable house 
painted castle and rose, a life we would not
have chose.Eighteen fifties harsh and mean,
cargo of coal, nothing stayed clean.Doff your
cap,touch your forelock at the gatekeeper's lock.
Food scarce except for or fish,perch , roach a 
staple dish.Clothes drying  on a line,home for a time 
whilst the toddlers were young.As  numbers increased 
and grew ,places to sleep, all too few.Family life
became impossibly hard ,so back again to a 
tied cottage in Aylesbury's Anchorage yard.

Listen to me read these poems at youtube under the name ichthys

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