the gap

arthur+martha is working at a 'Buddy Cafe' for people diagnosed with dementia - and their carers - in Salford. We're bringing together the stories of the many people involved. Some of these pieces are interviews, others creative work.  This project is in partnership with Age Concern Salford and Salford PCT. In this blog, we share Ray's poem reflecting on his life and memory itself.

the gap

Forgetting? Frustrating

I want to remember

so I can pass it on

memory:

incendiary bombs burning all along

I worked in the motor trade

workshop manuals, technical data

very good memory

data, say, on a Morris Minor

traffic clearance, plug gaps

the points and

the gap

had me own workshop

I’d work on a mini

knew all the timings, the technicals

I can remember the first mini I worked on

before it went in the showroom

always a good memory

collected stamps

year by year by year

remembered

it’s locked away in here somewhere

the electrical points

the

Morris 8 Series E

with a side-valve engine

not an overhead

air raids

my father coming back

from the war

bombs

the gaps between them

I can picture in my minds eye

but have to wait for the words

a hiding game, remembering

it helps to laugh

if you pick up one thing

you’ll remember another

the matinee on Saturday

the cowboys

my dad, I can still see him

coming down the road

still coming down the road.

Ray

March 2012

domino poem