Daughter Starts To Faint At The Heart Eaten Raw, Cryptic Crossword No. 1921

by Maree Reedman

I had no idea my father

was a celebrity

until we went on a cruise.

Strangers stopped me

to ask, How is George?

Dad grinned from his walker,

gave a royal wave.

At the nursing home,

staff patted him as they glided by.

You are so lucky to have a father like George.

His old neighbours

took him to a café every Saturday

and when his bank manager

learnt of his death

she came out from behind the counter,

sat next to me and cried.

Years ago I listened for his footsteps on the stairs

I waited for him to enter my sickroom,

but he never did.

I searched for him,

only finding shadows in his shed,

his army green radio on the window sill

and the carboy

gasping like a fish

caught in the silence.