Poems on Jewish and socialist themes, published jointly with Jewish Socialist magazine.

Newcomers

My father came to England
from another country
My father’s mother came to England
from another country
but my father’s father
stayed behind.

So my dad had no dad here
and I never saw him at all.

One day in spring
some things arrived:
a few old papers,
a few old photos
and – yes –
a hulky bulky thick checked jacket
that belonged to the man
I would have called ‘Grandad’
The Man Who Stayed Behind.

But I kept that jacket
And I wore it
And I wore it
And I wore it
till it wore right through
at the back