GRANDFATHER by Derek Mahon

GRANDFATHER by Derek Mahon, born Belfast 1941

They brought him in on a stretcher from the world,
Wounded but humorous; and he soon recovered.
Boiler-rooms, row upon row of gantries rolled
Away to reveal the landscape of a childhood
Only he can recapture. Even on cold
Mornings he is up at six with a block of wood
Or a box of nails, discreetly up to no good
Or banging round the house like a four-year-old —

Never there when you call. But after dark
You hear his great boots thumping in the hall
And in he comes, as cute as they come. Each night
His shrewd eyes bolt the door and set the clock
Against the future, then his light goes out.
Nothing escapes him; he escapes us all.


This poem was written by Mahon about his Grandfather who worked on Titanic as a boilermaker at Belfast Shipyard.

This is even more interesting to me as I thought this might have been my own Great Grandfather who worked on Titanic, but apparently it was his grandfather on his mother's side - Henry Harrison.