I Can See (the old soldier)

 

I can see
With my old rheumy eyes
Right up through those stars
Reflected from the skies
Throughout the deep seas
Of all the years gone by.
I can see
Far clearer than you’d know
Beyond the fathomy water
The days long ago
Of war and friends and fields
And tennis on the lawn.
I can see
As you wash my warty hands
The youth on your face
As you dream of sunny lands
And home and pubs and chums
And getting away from me.
Do not fear.
I don’t mind. No offence is taken.
How could you, so young,
Barely from bibs shaken,
Even think of trenches and poppies
Or care how my mother looked ?

 

 

(for Uncle Bob, 1917-2012)

Catherine Broughton