Poem: Visiting Auntie Lily.
Visiting Auntie Lily.
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When my brother and I were children
We would be washed and brushed
Like a pair of prize puppies
Before being taken to Auntie Lily’s house.
She was a fierce old lady,
Stiff and upright in her gleaming home
Full of foreign objects, brought home
By a merchant seaman brother.
She was the arbiter of good taste
Who informed the whole family
Of the proper way to do things.
After all, she had been the cook
To a family called the Lumsdens
For a very long period of service.
In fact, when she met Uncle Ben
They were engaged for thirteen years
In order to do things properly.
I liked going there a lot
For two quite specific reasons.
One of which was plentiful cake,
If eaten properly with the mouth closed
And the other one was being allowed
To carefully hold a dried pomegranate,
The skin of which was beautifully carved
With a date and someone’s initials.
It was like a piece of precious china.
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