He loves women with walloping big breasts.
“It will not always be dark at seven.”
His favourite phrase.
An orphan. Parents could not cope. Put him away. He suffered bullies, brought up his brother.
Never went to his mother’s funeral.
His wife nags and shouts, off work with her leg.
The firm will not give her a sit down job.
Doctors can find nothing wrong.
Suffered illness all her life, all his married life.
Asked her husband to take her out.
“You must be joking!” he replied.
He only stays with her because of their son. He talks and talks of his son.
He says, “My boy when he were small used to say: ‘Me can do it! Me can do it!’
Well told him he couldn’t. ‘KICK DEE! KICK DEE!’
he would shout.” And this dad laughs away his disabled
wife.
Some psychologist might say this dad needs a mother. Why else love women with walloping big breasts?

I screamed too much. Didn’t I.

You didn’t like father and I screamed. I screamed all through your life.

And you attended.

I wanted. You gave. Gave everything. ALL.

Straightened my collar. Set my tie.

Listened.

The ground I stand on. Is you. Don’t go. Don’t go.

Please stay. I love you.

The air I breathe. My doing. An end. I know an end. Don’t go.

Please stay.

If I ask politely will death not take you away. Will it?

Please death don’t take my mummy away.

Copyright Paul Brookes from 1993 Anthology ‘Rats For Love: The Book’, Bristol Broadsides.

My Mother died of Cancer in 1997, after a seven year battle. This is for her.

Married forty years to the same man. Ate with her mouth open.
Talked with her mouth full. Masticated his forgetfulness
through two romantic lovers
between the pages.
Cut with some bloodless cold steel then tongued from cheek to cheek morsels of his past with her:
Who lost his false teeth …
… Ieft his pipe on the bin lid outside
… kept new clothes unwrapped for years … did not like driving in the dark … ?
She levered chewed events from good teeth, pushed them down to the acid below
through shredding walls to feed
blood and bile that formed into words goading him to grab the bait.
And when he did she hauled him
in to be filleted, iced and sold to others as good quality food to be eaten.