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The Day That Our Dad Came Home Sober

 

 

 

The Day That Our Dad Came Home Sober

 

 

The day that our Dad came home sober

The dog barked as he came through the door

Cos our Killer was no good with strangers

Or people he’d not met before

 

Our Dad, not drunk, - didn’t seem like our Dad

He’d lost that gormless grin

And his eyes didn’t have that glazed-over look

So it just didn’t look like him

 

“Sid. You’re home early.” Said our Mam

“I wasn’t expecting you yet”

He said “Aye Flo, I thought I’d surprise you”

Which he did, cos our Mam’s name was Bet

 

Then with a straight-back he walked into the room

Without staggering or falling around

And he made it, in one piece right up to his chair

Without falling or hitting the ground

 

I thought, who is this man, who looks just like our Dad

But has eyes that are focused and clear

And can walk and talk without looking the fool

And isn’t tanked up full of beer

 

He looked round, surveying his family

As we shivered and shook from the cold

All sat about on old milk crates  

And a chaise longue covered in mould

 

The drawer of a cupboard doubled up as a cot

Where our Baby-Trevor lay

Swaddled up tight, in a hessian sack

On a mattress of freshly mown hay

 

Mam took out the family jam-butty

Before biting it, and passing it on

By the time that it got to mi Father

All but the end-bits were gone

 

Dad said “Flo I’ve just had an epiphany”

“I can’t live a life of regret”

“I’ve decided to pack in my drinking”

Which was odd, cos our Mam’s name was Bet

 

He said “you can’t bring up kids on jam-butties”

“I’ll nip out to buy veggies and fruit”

Then he went, and was gone for four hours

And came back…. As pissed as a newt

 

◄ Albert Edward Burrows

The Last Words My Granny Said To Me ►

Comments

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kJ Walker

Mon 7th Jan 2019 21:08

Looking forward to seeing you there John. I'll be doing this one. (Did you see your piccy on the Facebook page?).
Cheers Kevin

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John Coopey

Mon 7th Jan 2019 10:36

I missed this, Kev. Maybe you’ve done it at Well Spoken but I haven’t been for a month or two.
Hope to make it on a Thursday.
Brilliant.

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kJ Walker

Sun 16th Dec 2018 09:06

Thanks Taylor, Brian and M.C. Of course this is a true story, but like all the best tales it has been exaggerated.
My Dad was a chronic alcoholic and that caused us great hardship. But I realised that it was a disease like any other, and he couldn't help what he was.

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M.C. Newberry

Sat 15th Dec 2018 21:12

Many thanks for this "hoot and a holler" bit of fun. The pay-off was
perfect.

<Deleted User> (18980)

Sat 15th Dec 2018 18:19

Brill Kage!

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Taylor Crowshaw

Sat 15th Dec 2018 11:56

What a brilliant poem K.J. I can relate to this..we were due to go on a day trip to the Isle of Man as kids. Dad gambled the money away and we just had a pkt of custard creams to take between the three of us and mum.
I look back now and smile and even laugh at some of the carryings on. At the time it was hard..poor mum..
The last stanza is perfect..

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