At the Laurel Inn, Robin Hood`s Bay
by 
James Graham
|
Posted: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 Word Count: 112 Summary: Just back from a few days in Yorkshire. This piece is very raw - written in the last hour or so. |
The Laurel Inn, Robin Hood's Bay
It was closed.
At lunch-time on a Tuesday,
it was closed.
From 1917 till 1926
my grandmother lived
in the flat above this pub.
She had lost two husbands,
both called James.
The first of the Jameses
was killed in South Africa
by rotten army food.
James the Second
died on the lip of a trench
and left three children.
She never lived to know it
but James, her only son,
was bombed in Coventry.
Still, here I was,
the lucky one,
old James the Fourth,
through the female line,
late twentieth century man,
and I wanted to drink to her
but the pub was closed.
It was closed.
At lunch-time on a Tuesday,
it was closed.
From 1917 till 1926
my grandmother lived
in the flat above this pub.
She had lost two husbands,
both called James.
The first of the Jameses
was killed in South Africa
by rotten army food.
James the Second
died on the lip of a trench
and left three children.
She never lived to know it
but James, her only son,
was bombed in Coventry.
Still, here I was,
the lucky one,
old James the Fourth,
through the female line,
late twentieth century man,
and I wanted to drink to her
but the pub was closed.