JINGLE ON MY SON!

JINGLE ON MY SON!
A doughty champion of his local culture.(Poet Tom Hubbard)Your performance at the city hall was soooooooooo good! Christoph thought it was excellent! (Carolyn)

13.8.16

SPLINTERS



























 



 



(FOR MY FATHER)



You picked splinters

with a pin each day

from under blackened fingernails;

shreds of metal

from the shipyard grime,

minute memories of days swept by:

the dusty remnants of a life

spent in the shadow of the sea;

the tears in your shattered eyes

at the end of work.

And your hands were strong,

so sensitive and capable 

of building boats

and nursing roses;

a kind and gentle man

who never hurt a soul,

the sort of quiet knackered man

who built a nation.

Dad, I watched your ashes float away

down to the ocean bed

and in each splinter

I saw your caring eyes

and gracious smile.



I think of your strong silence every day

and I am full of you,

the waves you scaled,

and all the sleeping Tyneside streets

you taught me to dance my fleeting feet along.



When I fly, you are with me.

I see your fine face

in sun-kissed clouds

and in the gold ring on my finger,

and in the heaving crowd on Saturday,

and in the lung of Grainger Market,

and in the ancient breath

of our own Newcastle.







KEITH ARMSTRONG



'This is one of the poems I'll never forget. I see the struggling of my own dad in your words. 

Thanks for your fine poem.' (Klaas Drenth) 



Beautiful poem. Loving, moving memories. Most excellent Keith.’ (Strider Marcus Jones)



'Love the poem Keith. That’s my dad.’ (John McMahon)



Annie Sheridan 'Beautifully visual Keith ,nice to share your memories.' x



Imelda Walsh 'Lovely poem, loving memories too.'



Kenny Jobson 'So, so good, Keith - I'll share this, if you don't mind.'

the jingling geordie

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whitley bay, tyne and wear, United Kingdom
poet and raconteur