Then and now
\nby cricketjeff on September 9, 2009.\u00a0 \u00a9 Jeff Green, All rights reserved
\nWith heavy heart and weary tread he closed the silent house,
\nEach window latched and door-keys set aside.
\nWhere once he moved like music in a waltz by Johann Strauss
\nNow random aches appeared with every stride.
\nThe kettle filled for morning with one teacup on the tray,
\nUnready for tomorrow how he longs for yesterday.<\/p>\n
The children woke him early when the sun said “Winter’s done”,
\nThe apple tree new-greened and full of light.
\nHe brought her weekend tea in bed then settled into fun,
\nA day at home then promised him delight.
\nBut now the children stay away, just voices on the phone,
\nThey’re woken in the springtime by some children of their own.<\/p>\n
A holiday beside the sea, the boat the boys had hired,
\nElizabeth scared silent as they sailed.
\nHe sat and watched his offspring and the lady he desired,
\nAnd memories of happiness prevailed.
\nNo holidays, no happiness, no change from day to day.
\nThe years since he last felt like Dad have hidden life away.<\/p>\n
Turns out the lights and climbs the stairs, no snore to make him smile,
\nA lonely bathroom then a lonely bed.
\nHe settles on his pillow and perhaps for just a while
\nHe’ll see them all again inside his head.
\nAsleep he’s still the man he was, the centre of a life,
\nSurrounded by his children and beside his lovely wife.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Then and now by cricketjeff on September 9, 2009.\u00a0 \u00a9 Jeff Green, All rights reserved With heavy heart and weary tread he closed the silent house, Each window latched and door-keys set aside. Where once he moved like music in a waltz by Johann Strauss Now random aches appeared with every stride. The kettle filled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":9748,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4116","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicewaistcoat.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicewaistcoat.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicewaistcoat.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicewaistcoat.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicewaistcoat.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/nicewaistcoat.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7392,"href":"http:\/\/nicewaistcoat.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4116\/revisions\/7392"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicewaistcoat.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicewaistcoat.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}