When you are baking scones for your children,
the little boys and girls who have now grown up
into adults, now are living in their own houses
with their own living rooms that they sit in every night,
nearly every night, huddled around the television
like a football team before their game – a family,
of sorts, who eat take-aways or frozen meals that
have been cooked in a microwave which sits next to a
refrigerator covered in post-it notes, notifications and
certificates, belonging to my grandchildren who call me
“Nana” and press clumsy kisses on my cheek before
they run off to play, not outside, not to climb
a tree or fly a kite, but to sit hunch-backed
over a rectangular device that is good -
it is good for them and it will help them, like
a lighthouse helping those hopeless ships at sea
as they bob up and down in the forlorn
and unforgiving ocean until eventually one sinks
to the bottom; trapped in the embrace of the sea
like raisins stuck in the sticky dough of scones
that you bake for your children when they come
to visit - remember to add the memories
and also, of course, a pinch of salt.
the little boys and girls who have now grown up
into adults, now are living in their own houses
with their own living rooms that they sit in every night,
nearly every night, huddled around the television
like a football team before their game – a family,
of sorts, who eat take-aways or frozen meals that
have been cooked in a microwave which sits next to a
refrigerator covered in post-it notes, notifications and
certificates, belonging to my grandchildren who call me
“Nana” and press clumsy kisses on my cheek before
they run off to play, not outside, not to climb
a tree or fly a kite, but to sit hunch-backed
over a rectangular device that is good -
it is good for them and it will help them, like
a lighthouse helping those hopeless ships at sea
as they bob up and down in the forlorn
and unforgiving ocean until eventually one sinks
to the bottom; trapped in the embrace of the sea
like raisins stuck in the sticky dough of scones
that you bake for your children when they come
to visit - remember to add the memories
and also, of course, a pinch of salt.