The Triumph

MAGPIE TALES

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2011/06/mag-68.html

THE TRIUMPH

(An Imagination!)

Ah, but he was a hard man, my father!

When he drank,

Which was often,

We all cowered,

Waiting for his turning of the key.

The candles would gutter

As he threw open the door

And confronted us.

In slurred speech he would berate us,

Mock us,

Belittle us,

Threatening us with worse to come.

But it was my mother who suffered most.

Many times

I saw her beaten,

Heard her cry out,

Saw her sobbing in the aftermath.

I was the eldest boy.

I should have protected her,

Championed her,

Looked my father in the eye

And dared him to continue.

But, no!

I snivelled,

I hid in corners,

Covered my eyes.......

Eyes.

One of his was false,

But it could intimidate,

Wither

And quell

As well as any human eye.

When he died, in a drunken brawl,

He left us penniless,

And on the street.

I asked for his glass eye.

People wondered why I wanted it.

I used it as paper-weight

When I was studying.

Even now that I am a successful man,

It looks at me.

*

But I can look right back

*

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WINTER WARMERS

Completed without a single hitch!

It's hooray for garter stitch!

Brilliant colours! Smiling faces!

Blankets destined for far-off places.

Coloured squares, joined up together

To warm someone in the winter weather.

Nimble fingers creating magic.

Winter often can be tragic

For folk who have to go without!

A stirling effort, without a doubt!

Keep knitting, Ladies, and smiling too.

Just look what generous hearts can do.

*