Museum of Science and Industry

An additional poem by David Lavisher can be downloaded from the right hand side of this page.

Time Gentlemen

It was quiet The Tavern
No greeting, no smile.
The blackened corner seat at the bar
Empty.
He had been unassuming, gentle,
Dignified in his old man’s way.
Reputed to have soldiered in France.
Only two concessions to public life
An ugly sister in the village pantomime,
And solo, tearfully sang ‘Silent Night’
In our little village church on Christmas Eve.
All his working days, a spinner,
A master of the mill.
Barefoot, following slender cotton threads
Down the years of his life,
Endlessly piecing up their fragile strands
With supple oiled fingers
As gently as a breeze caressing thistledown.
Until the gold watch and pension years.
When he quietly faded away.

By David Lavisher