My Grampy

A long time ago
When ships had sails
My Grampy was a sailor
Sailing from Wales

His father before him
Sailed the wide blue
In ships full of young
Enthusiastic crew

My grampy sailed to the African Coast
And picked up an animal
That was finer than most

He was oh so tiny
His fur was so black
His eyes were so doleful
Nothing he lacked

My grampy brought home
That beautiful boy
Nurtured and cared for him
Like a really special toy

But that tiny monkey
Just grew and he grew
Until he was so big
My grampy didn't know
What to do

So he put round his neck
A thick steel chain
To stop him from running away
In the rain

But the creature grew so strong
It snapped every link
And bit my dear grampy
Oh! What to think!

My great-grandmother cried
"This thing is a killer!
How could you bring home
A massive gorilla?

"You must let him go
I can bear it no more
Please take this animal
Out of the door!"

"OK dearest mother!"
My Grampy replied
"I will send him off!"
"Oh good!" she sighed

"But please do not hurt him
I don't want him to be
In terrible pain because of
Your foolery!"

So great granny went out
To bring in provisions!
My grampy had to make
An important decision.

How to get rid of that
Creature so black!
To Africa he couldn't
Take him back

So he went to a neighbour
And borrowed a gun
And shot that poor creature
From the land of the sun

The moral of the story is
Do not bring back
Cute little creatures
So tiny and black

They may not be what you expected at all
Like the big black gorilla - who was 6 foot tall...


Apparently so the story goes - my grampy DID bring back what he thought was a cute little monkey who grew up to be a massive male gorilla. He did bite my Grampy (in the neck), broke his chain etc! My grampy and is brother did apparently shoot the poor thing while their mother was out - they cleaned up the house where they shot him before their mother came home and told her the gorilla didn't feel a thing! Whether this was just an adventure story made up for his kids and grandchildren, I don't know - my grampy was a character - he died in 1990!

He used to play for Shirley Bassey in the pubs before she became famous! He played banjo (and I think guitar)! Cool guy with a great sense of humour!

Looking Back...

I looked in the mirror

And what did I see?

But a lady with grey streaks

Staring at me!

She had crows feet

In the corners of her eyes

And big 'shopping bags'

Which was a surprise



It only seemed like

A year and a day

When my pals called around

And ask me to play

With their long skipping ropes

And hula hoop rings,

Magna Doodle, Gyroscopes

And those funny springs



I remember the discos

With bright spinning lights,

The hall full of teens,

The playground fights.

We used t' play two ball

And if we were lucky

We'd go to the shop

And buy some Slush Puppy



We'd go to the park

And play on the train

And climb the tall slide

Over and over again.

We'd play in the street

Until it got darker

We'd knock on the doors

Then turn, and we'd scarper.



We thought we were cool

In our bell bottomed troose

Our wide collared blouses

And our platform shoes

We listened to groups

Who wrote their own songs

We never heard of computers

And we never wore thongs!



Gone are the days of

A simple childhood

Where TV wasn't colour

Well, we thought it good.

Now we have mobiles,

Computers and Wiis

Our life seems so rushed

We don't take our ease



So as I stared back

I gave a big grin

As I just remembered

The times I'd lived in.

The lady grinned back

And so I could see

That lady with grey streaks

Was really me!


Written by me - 17/10/09