Poem: The Storyteller
This week’s Poet’s Corner sees Claire-Louise Watson reflect on the evocative power of story time with grandpa.
The Storyteller
When grandpa settles in his favourite chair
I know that a swashbuckling story is near:
how he crammed his pockets with souvenirs
and boldly escaped a smuggler’s lair,
sliced through oceans in a submarine,
survived a grenade, or harpooned a whale.
Dad rolls his eyes when he starts a tale,
and even I doubt he dined with the Queen.
Now I recount the stories to his vacant face,
for perhaps he still hears or understands
though he wears disease as his new disguise.
For a moment we soar to another place;
when I turn to leave he grips my hand,
and signals approval with glimmering eyes.
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Claire-Louise Grace Watson is a Salvation Army officer who lives in Murray Bridge, where she shares life and ministry with her husband Tim and their two sons. A former physiotherapist, she and Tim have also been posted to Salvation Army corps in Western Australia and Tasmania. Her memoir, “Fingerprints of Grace”, mentored at Tabor College, was published by Salvo Publishing in 2017 and is available at Koorong stores online. More about Claire and her book can also be found here and here.
Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.